My Girlfriend Is Terrifying [Worm Au][Taylor x Victoria x Lisa]

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

Thanks for the chapter!

Also Rune fucked up, she gave Skitter a reason to start escalating again...

 

[Dradel]

Vicky hearing Taylor was kidnapped but Skitter saved her ''now wait a minute...''

 

[space turtle]

Oopsie woopsie.

We may have declared an existential gang war….

Poor Vicky is going to spend her life playing professional cat herder.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: I don't know how this chapter got so long. But enjoy.

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The Dallon Household – Late Night

"Kidnapped! In the first bloody weeks of all things." Carol shook her head. "What the hell was Taylor doing alone, anyway?"

"She was visiting her father, she was hardly alone." Sarah countered. "They were in broad daylight, for heaven's sake."

"And yet the Empire felt confident enough to just grab her off the street," Carol snapped. "She shouldn't have been out alone. It was foolish. We made a big show of putting her under New Wave protection and now the public knows that we can't protect her. I can't begin to imagine what that girl must be feeling."

"If it wasn't for Skitter-"

"Don't start with me on that," Carol hissed back. "That monster is only using our suffering for her gang wars."

"And yet, Taylor is safe," Sarah said back. "You know I hate criminals as much as the next hero but I think we should acknowledge-"

"Acknowledge what!? That she saved my daughter's girlfriend. That she's been spying on her for who knows how long and aware that a threat was incoming. Should send her a thank you card and some flowers!?"

"Acknowledge that she had a point," Sarah said softly. "The Empire can't get away with this. Not again. I hate the idea of the people we love being in danger, and I'd never wish that on anyone, especially Vicky. But if we don't do something now, then the Empire is going to get away with this shit all over again. And we all know what that feels like."

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Carol said after a long sigh. "We can't honestly give support to a supervillain?"

"We don't have to support her," Sarah said while shaking her head. "We just have to put the focus on the Empire. Denounce them, publicly. Get the people angry on our behalf. Get the PRT to finally do something about this stain of Nazis in our city."

"But that still puts Taylor at risk," Carol said, hesitant to agree. "Lisa too for that matter. We can't use her as some justification…"

"It's too late for that," Sarah said softly. "Taylor was always going to be at risk, just by being the girlfriend of a superhero. Hell, just for being gay in this godforsaken city."

Carol looked away from her sister. Mulling over the thoughts. Sarah's eyes followed her gaze. To the wall covered in newspaper clippings. All the stories about New Wave and the Brockton Bay Brigade. All the change in the city that never amounted to squat.

"Kidnapped..." Carol muttered again to herself. "If those girls... They could've gone through... what I... what we..." Her hand started shaking in her scrunched-up fist. Sarah walked up behind her and rested a comforting squeeze on her sister's shoulder. "Fucking Empire…"

"So you'll call a press conference?" Sarah asked her voice firm, her eyes determined.

Carol stood up straighter. Her hands clenched into a determined fist.

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Arcadia High – The Following Morning

Surprisingly, the city didn't immediately implode into an all-out gang war as some people had been expecting.

The news was all over the kidnapping of Glory Girl's girlfriend and the subsequent rescue by the Undersider's own Skitter. Her blatant call to war was shown on repeat throughout the local news cycle. While tensions in the city were high, it hadn't yet hit the tipping point, and so, school was still in session.

Vicky was bombarded with questions and comments when she arrived, mainly as support on Taylor's behalf. She could only imagine the type of crowd Taylor was dealing with when she walked into school today. She'd almost felt bad for the girl, except for the slight fact that Taylor had orchestrated the entire thing and Victoria was the only other person in the school who was actually aware of that fact.

Victoria hadn't had time to talk to Taylor since the supposed kidnapping took place. She'd sent a few messages back and forth between Taylor and Lisa, however Taylor was understandably caught up dealing with police statements and then spending time with her distraught father. It made their reunion all the more complicated, because as frustrated as Vicky was with being out of the loop again, she had to play the part of a girlfriend whose girlfriend just had a near brush with kidnapping.

"Honestly, I'm fine," Came the cool, calm and collected words out of Taylor's lying lips. "I was a little shaken up but I'm good now."

Victoria walked closer to her lunch table, wondering exactly how long she would have to keep up the charade before she could deck Taylor over the head with her food tray. Taylor for her part was shying away from Amy's hand as her sister was once again offering to give Taylor a quick, free medical evaluation after her traumatic kidnapping.

"Taylor, I can see the scuff marks on your arm, let me heal you," Amy sighed. "Seriously, it'll take two seconds, just take my hand."

Taylor hesitated, looking at Amy's hand like it might explode. She turned and looked at Vicky as if asking for help.

"Tay, stop being stubborn and accept Amy's healing for once," Vicky said with a little more annoyance in her voice than she intended. When both girls looked up at her with concern, Victoria shook off her feelings and added. "I just want to be sure you're okay. For me? Please?"

"Fine..." Taylor said before finally relenting and holding her hand up. "But just the cosmetic damage, don't change any-"

"Yes, yes," Amy said, grabbing Taylor's hand with both of hers. "Only the recent damage, I won't fix your vision even though I don't understand why," Amy hummed as she took a reading of Taylor's body. The slight bruises and scratches disappeared like dirt being brushed off her. "Geeze, your shins were in pain. Don't even try to lie to me about that. Fixed now, feel better? Want me to do some dental?-"

"Thanks, Amy," Taylor said as she pulled her hand back as soon as Amy loosened her grip, fiddling with her glasses to double-check that her vision hadn't been miraculously fixed.

"No problem. Wait, why do you even have glasses?" Amy asked back. "Isn't your whole thing like... super vision or something?"

"Not with her eyes," Victoria said, sitting down next to Taylor. "Anyway, Tay. I'm glad you're safe," She pulled Taylor into a hug but held a firm, warning grip on the girl's shoulder. "We should really talk about what happened yesterday when we're alone."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too," Taylor said, smiling a little as she broke the hug. "Sorry for not responding to your messages. Things got pretty crazy yesterday."

"I can imagine," Vicky said coldly. Amy looked over, wondering about the tense mood before Vicky slapped on her usual smile. "I'm just happy you're safe."

"Same," Amy said as she chewed on her food. "Those Empire fucks..." She shook her head. "Only found out what happened when I got home, but no one should go through that."

Amy was oddly more talkative than usual, Victoria didn't notice it at first, but the girl was actually making a conversation with Taylor without any prompting. Vicky could easily guess as to why, everyone in New Wave could relate to the fear of an Empire attack. Even Vicky's frustration over Taylor's manipulation of the event was layered with a thick level of fear over the fact that the kidnapping attempt was genuine. Vicky hated being out of the loop, but she hated the idea of Taylor being taken for real even more.

Her cautious grip over Taylor's shoulder gave way for a far more comforting cuddle as Victoria let her anger go in way for the other emotions she held behind it. Taylor, for her part, was not surprised when Vicky pulled her close and snuggled her a little, which was unusual as the girl usually shied away from public displays of affection. Even Amy, who comically rolled her eyes whenever Victoria got too cuddly with her partners, shared the same look of concern for Taylor, with a comforting hand on Taylor's back while she ate her food.

Eventually, the rest of the table started to gather. Sending their concern and well wishes Taylor's way as they quietly took their seat. No one commented on how Victoria's face was buried into Taylor's shoulder, or how the blonde wordlessly held onto Taylor throughout the lunch hour.

The mood around the table was somber and reflective. Victoria couldn't help but notice that none of the other students in the lunchroom were talking as much either. Giving the couple some much-needed space as Vicky continued to hold Taylor close.

-----------------------------------------------

Taylor felt genuinely bad for the pain her plan had caused people. The guilt was already eating away at her for what she put her father through, now she had Vicky and Amy holding onto her like Taylor would disappear the moment they let go. The rest of the table wasn't that different. Alice and Jessica were trying their best to comfort her, asking about what happened and what she was feeling. Carlos and Dean had the same, somber silence as they were both lost in their own thoughts. Dennis was the only one at the table trying to keep the mood from dropping to an all-time low and for once, Taylor outwardly appreciated his attempts at jokes.

"-And that's when I said I couldn't play violin," Dennis said, nailing the punchline of his current story.

Taylor let out an audible giggle at the joke. On any other day, that joke would've caused the rest of the table to sigh, however, everyone at the table seemed to lighten up once Taylor started chuckling along to Dennis's jokes. Even Vicky in her silent mood, couldn't help but smile at the sound of Taylor's laugh.

"Alright, That last one was terrible," Taylor said, smiling and wiping a tear from her eye.

"Terrible?" Dennis said, putting a hand over his heart. "Taylor, you wound me. That was a true story."

"That doesn't make it a good joke," Vicky said.

"A good joke is all about timing," Dennis said back. "And I... can't finish that joke here."

Taylor suppressed another chuckle, aware that Dennis was about to make some kind of Clockblocker reference that Taylor shouldn't actually be aware of. Perhaps she should mention one day that she was already aware of who all the boys were, but for now, Taylor simply smiled.

"Thank you," Taylor whispered to Dennis.

Dennis winked back. "Don't worry about it. Just glad you're safe."

The bell rang. Signalling the end of lunch, and the group made their way towards their respective classes. There were only two days left of school for the year, which meant there was only one actual school day left and then graduation for everyone at this table except for Taylor and Amy. Taylor couldn't help but wonder how many of her school friends she would see after this week. Would they all just move on with their lives or would Taylor actually stay in touch with a few of them?

Vicky's hand slipped into Taylor's as the group walked towards the classroom, holding on a little tighter than usual. They walked behind the group, with even the common student knowing to give the two girls a wide berth of space.

"I'm sorry," Taylor whispered, leaning into Victoria. "I didn't... I can explain it later. After school. But I'm sorry. For making you worry."

"It's not your fault," Vicky whispered back, kissing Taylor on the cheek. "Well, I'm still furious about other things, which we will talk about... but you being kidnapped is not one of them."

Taylor turned back and gave Vicky a kiss of her own before the two girls separated for class. There were a lot of things she wanted to discuss with Vicky, and Taylor was determined to stick with her no-secrets policy. Vicky gave a wave and a smile before heading to her locker, Taylor did the same, hoping that her girlfriend wouldn't simply punt her into orbit the second they were alone.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Arcadia High – Afternoon

Skitter's message to the public was still making its rounds. Every second phone Victoria looked at either had someone reading a news article on the topic or just the video itself. The common citizen of Brockton Bay could get behind the idea of all the city's capes banding together and kicking the Empire out once and for all.

Added to that, New Wave's statement on the situation mirrored much of Skitter's points without actually agreeing with the villain. The PRT had released a statement on the matter too, which was much less aggressive, but still denounced the Empire's actions and stated they were taking appropriate action while also asking for Skitter to turn herself in to the authorities before things went too far.

As a whole, the city was still standing and the tension was high. Standing being the optimal word for it. Victoria almost choked on her spit when she caught eyes of the latest social media trend for the Brockton area.

#StandWithSkitter was front and center on PHO threads and related websites. Along with a large assortment of hashtags and comments from the general population of Brockton Bay. Some were clearly from people in the Empire, trying to derail the conversation but the vast majority of the hashtag was from civilians.

By the time the last school bell rang out, Victoria was eager to talk to Taylor about this latest development. Taylor was waiting for her by the school gate standing around with Amy as the wave of students filed out and into the streets. Amy waved goodbye and headed off to the hospital while Taylor and Victoria walked in the other direction.

The two girls stayed silent until they were clear of the crowd.

"Not working with the Wards today?" Taylor asked, nodding her head in the direction of Carlos, Dennis and Dean as they all headed into the city.

Victoria sighed and shook her head. "I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you that I'm back working with New Wave... As your protection. For the foreseeable future."

"Oh," Taylor said with a nod.

It made sense, she'd just been targeted by the Empire, of course, New Wave would be concerned about a follow-up attack.

"Sorry," Taylor said with a frown. "I know you'd rather be doing actual hero work rather than babysitting me."

Victoria waved the comment off. "Please, it's not like I did anything heroic with the Wards this week. It's been three days of photos along the boardwalk for tourists," Taylor nodded again, a little more confidently. "Besides, if I didn't volunteer for it, they would've sent my cousin and that would've caused you even more trouble."

"Shame," Taylor said with a wry smile. "Always wanted to meet Laserdream."

"Hah," Victoria chuckled. "Actually they almost sent Eric, uh, Shielder. For the protection and all."

"That does make more sense," Taylor said. "And I suppose this is a bad time to tell you that I kinda... have work?"

Victoria stopped in her tracks, looking over at Taylor's guilty smile.

"Oh, no," Victoria said while raising a finger.

"I did promise to explain everything," Taylor added.

"I am not. No. We are not going to see…"

"You can listen to Lisa and our explanation," Taylor said.

"You mean go to your lair?" Victoria hissed. "Your supervillain lair, which I am seventy percent sure is Coil's old base, right?"

"Plus, it's not like your family would tell you to watch over me and not Lisa, right?" Taylor asked, ignoring Victoria's complaint.

"That's not untrue," Vicky admitted hesitantly.

"So come to work with me," Taylor asked with a smile. "Honestly, it's perfect. We're all just having a meeting about our next steps. You want to be part of the loop, you'll have a seat at the table. And I promise, no crime will take place... today.... while you're there."

"Conspiracy to plan a gang war is a crime," Victoria said flatly. "As well as being an accessory."

"It's a grey area." Taylor shrugged.

"It's illegal."

"We can debate the legality later," Taylor said, taking Victoria's hand and guiding her back onto the sidewalk. "Come meet with Lisa. We'll explain everything. And if you don't like what you hear, you can walk right out. Okay?"

Victoria scrunched her face up and rubbed her temple. How had she gotten into this situation again? The world used to be so simple, so black and white. Now her supervillain girlfriend was inviting her back to her evil lair and a part of Victoria did want to go. To understand what the hell had happened in the past week.

"Fine," Victoria said, pulling her hand out of Taylor's. "But if anyone commits a crime in my presence, I'm arresting them."

"Of course," Taylor said in an all too dismissive way.

"I guess we're flying off into downtown then," Victoria asked. "Unless you want to tell me that you haven't taken over Coil's old base?"

There was a slight tinge of hope in her question to which Taylor's expression dashed instantly. Victoria was right on the money, the Undersiders had moved in on the free real estate.

"Sorry," Taylor said apologetically. "Oh, but first we need to drop by the old flat on the way and pick something up."

"The old flat?" Victoria asked. "Wait, so I'm visiting both secret lairs today? Wonderful," She shook her head again, wondering if it wasn't too late to simply put her fingers in her ears and pretend she heard nothing. "What illegal goods are you planning on transporting by air Vicky?"

It was a joke, but one that also served to remind that there were limits to what Victoria was willing to do for her girlfriend. If Skitter needed help moving the evil furniture into her evil lair, then she could take the evil bus like everyone else.

"Nothing illegal," Taylor shook her head. "Figured you'd want to change into your costume first."

Victoria blinked back at Taylor in confusion.

"I'm sorry, my what?"

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The Undersider's 'evil' lair – Afternoon

One quick flight over to a relatively run-down-looking studio flat in the middle of nowhere special and Victoria was being handed her new costume by Taylor and offered a spare room to change in.

Judging by the purple eye theme on the door, Taylor had given her Tattletale's bedroom. The room was sparsely decorated, only having the bare minimum furniture and a duffle bag full of ID's and cash in the closet. Victoria resisted the urge to poke around more in favour of looking at the outfit Taylor had given her.

No longer was it a simple spare Skitter costume with some missing accessories. The black body suit now had dark gold lines running across the torso and arms. Upon stepping into the suit, Vicky noted that it fit her body far better than the last time she wore the cursed thing. The limbs had been widened to accommodate her muscular frame, the gloves were fingerless, and the shoes had been converted to much bulkier boots, also the chest didn't cling to her so tightly.

Overall, the design was much more armoured and bulkier compared to the slim and stealthy Skitter. Taking advantage of Victoria's brute strength to manage the extra layers of protection. Taylor had obviously worked on this to fit Victoria's measurements, which raised some questions as to her intentions. The suit was built like Vicky was expected to fight in it, far more durable than her usual Glory Girl getup.

Finally came the mask, which Victoria was still hesitant to place over her head. The eyes had been darkened to match the gold that accented the rest of the suit, less bug-like but just as intimidating as before. The final addition to the suit was a hood at the back that connected to the head of the mask. Victoria could potentially tie her hair up into a tail and hide her blonde locks away, adding another layer of anonymity to her attire.

When the full piece came together, it was hard to believe it was Victoria under that mask, much less a woman in general. The extra armour panels hid away any obvious signs of her femininity, and in turn, her entire identity as Glory Girl.

Of course, that didn't stop Victoria from immediately trying a few general poses to see what she could work with. Between her mixture of horrified and impressed about the outfit Taylor constructed, a sly smile hit Victoria's lips as she held a specific pose. As expected, no amount of insect shells and spider silk could hide all that a-

"Are you ready?" Skitter called out from the other side of the door, startling Vicky.

"Y-yeah!" Vicky called back, quickly gathering her civilian clothes, and throwing them into her school bag.

Skitter stood in the living room portion of the flat with Taylor's schoolbag swung over one shoulder. The buzzing and jittering of her swarm hidden safely away in one of the bag's pockets. Nervously, Vicky walked out and over to the waiting supervillain who promptly welcomed her with a hug.

"Did I get the measurements right?" Skitter asked, looking over Victoria's costume. "I assumed you could handle the extra plating, but I never actually asked if constantly hold it without bother, not to mention the extra heat from all those layers. It is summer after all."

"No it's… oddly perfect," Victoria said, remembering that Skitter was still just the dork she loved. "The measurements I mean, not the whole… Okay, why do I have a new suit?"

"We couldn't have Glory Girl meeting with the Undersiders," Skitter said, tilting her head in confusion.

Vicky shook her head. "No, I mean, when did you even make this? And why? I thought the whole team-up thing was a one-time thing."

"I like to be prepared," Skitter shrugged. "I've been slowly updating all the Undersider's outfits in my spare time. Figured I give Deimos a new look while I was at it… just in case."

Vicky frowned at the name, not that Skitter could see. A villainous name, a villainous costume, standing in a villainous lair with her villainous girlfriend. Vicky didn't like the implications, but she was already this deep, so she couldn't do much except sink or swim.

"Anyway, ready to go?" Skitter asked again, holding out her hand as she nodded to the nearby window.

With a deep sigh, Deimos wrapped one arm around Skitter and took to the sky.

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The Undersider's new 'evil' lair – Fifteen minutes later

The pair landed outside some Chinese laundromat on the edge of the city. The place was empty except for a few running machines and an elderly lady who didn't so bother as to look up when two masked capes walked into the shop.

Skitter took the lead, moving into the backroom and descending into the basement. An ominous metal door waited for them. Knocking twice, a small hatch opened followed by a gruff voice asking, "Password?"

"Tarantula juice," Skitter spoke back bluntly. Deimos looked between the door and Skitter with amusement.

After a few seconds, the door swung open, revealing the most cliché underground casino that Vicky had ever seen. It was like she was transported to some old-timey speakeasy, filled with well-dressed crooks playing cards and craps.

A few eyes caught on Skitter and her new cape friend, however, Skitter ignored them all as she walked through the small crowd of gamblers. Victoria tried hard not to think of how many crimes she was witnessing in this place alone, Taylor obviously didn't consider underground gambling and unlicensed bars to be considered a crime when she made her promise.

Walking into the backrooms, Skitter made a beeline for the head office as security got out of her way. Most of them gave Vicky a quick glance before acting like the girl didn't exist at all, even watching as one of the bar staff froze in place as they caught eyes on the two capes. Victoria hated this feeling. She knew that the outfit was intimidating, but the look of frozen fear this random man shot at them rattled Victoria.

"She's with me," Skitter announced as she marched through the office door.

A large man in a suit sat in the office, watching the security cameras on his desk computer. He gave a curt nod and pressed a button under his desk as Skitter strolled past, the bookshelf behind him giving way to a fake wall.

The nervous beads of sweat ran down his face as the two capes passed through, Victoria could hear how he released his breath as the false wall closed behind her.

"So, you have a secret door, behind a secret casino, behind a secret door… in a Chinese laundromat," Deimos said sarcastically, listing off the rooms with her finger. "Did I miss anything?"

"The casino is a front," Skitter explained as they walked down a hallway. "In the event of any police raids, all they will find is some low-stakes gambling. Owned by minor nobodies."

"I gathered that much," Vicky said as she rolled her eyes. She was feeling uncomfortable, between the blatant crime and the familiar-looking hallways of Coil's base.

Unlike up in the casino, all the men Skitter and Deimos passed treated the pair like they weren't a secret trying to hide, but like royalty. Skitter specifically, every mercenary they walked by stopped to give the villain a quick salute before continuing on with their assignments.

"Ma'am," One man said, opening a door for Skitter.

"Ma'am," another said as he stood at attention in the hall.

"Ma'am," A woman said, holding up a computer tablet. "I have updated Empire movements for Tattletale. I was just about to send them through,"

Skitter took the tablet and inspected its contents. After a short second, she handed them back to the woman. "Tell squads two and six to act more overt, we don't want them thinking our flank is exposed."

"Of course, Ma'am," The woman saluted and walked off.

Vicky watched the woman leave and then slowly turned her head back to Skitter. She stared silently at the back of Skitter as she continued her walk, Skitter for her part stopped shortly once she realised that Vicky wasn't following.

"What?" Skitter asked, tilting her head as she always did.

"Nothing," Vicky sighed under her mask. "Just getting PTSD flashbacks to working with Piggot."

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The door opened onto a large meeting room, in the center was a table that looked to fit some twenty to thirty people. Two people sat at the end of the table, one of whom smiled brightly as Skitter and Deimos walked in.

"Deimos!" Tattletale called out as she skipped across the room. "I can scarcely believe it. When Skitter said you were coming to join the party, I was sure it was a joke," She threw her arms around Victoria and gave her a friendly squeeze. "Welcome aboard. Please tell me you're here to stay?"

"She's just here to talk," Skitter clarified, earning a pout from Tattletale.

"This is temporary," Victoria quickly added. "I still don't know what the hell I'm doing here, but nobody is joining anything."

"Right, Of course," Tattletale said with an all too knowing grin, she turned to give Skitter a hug of her own, to which Vicky was pulled into again.

Someone cleared their throat loudly. Victoria turned her head towards the sound and took notice of the other man still sitting at the end of the desk. Grue was an intimidating fellow, the dark smoke emanating from his skin and mask didn't help.

"Oh stop that," Tattletale groaned. "We're all friends here."

"Are we though?" Both Grue and Vicky asked at the same time. The question was ignored in favour of Vicky being pulled into a chair next to Skitter.

"Come, come," Tattletale said. "Meeting starts soon, we can get you up to speed before then."

"And yet she says she didn't want to lead," Grue sighed to himself, gesturing to a chair to Vicky. "Make yourself at home, Deimos."

Getting settled in her seat, Vicky put both her hands together and sucked in a long sigh. "Okay, I've been patient so far, but I am really starting to get annoyed, so I'm just going to say my piece clearly... Lisa, Taylor... What the fuck?" She looked over to both girls in question, one smiling at her as they leaned back into their chairs. "Seriously? It was bad enough when you two were just thieves and petty nuisances. But this? What the fuck?"

"Okay," Tattletale raised her finger. "I know that you may have some concerns."

"Some concerns!" Victoria scoffed. "You've taken over from Coil! You're preparing for a gang war with the Empire. You're... warlords! You're literally running the second biggest gang in Brockton Bay."

"Uh, independent mercenary company," Grue interjected.

Deimos's mask locked onto Grue's and stared down the villain, her glare obvious behind the cold, emotionless mask. Grue shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked over to Tattletale.

"It's... semantics," Tattletale admitted with a shrug.

"Coil's operation was the only thing keeping the Empire at bay," Skitter added. "If we let it fall apart, then they would've had free reign of the city."

Vicky couldn't refute that fact, as much as it frustrated her to admit, but there was more to her concern than just the criminal element. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We were going to, honest," Tattletale said with her best smile, Skitter nodded in agreement. "We're still in the process of cleaning house and restructuring. We didn't want you to think that we just took over Coil's operation and continued it as is."

"But then Rune decided to start following me, so we had to plan for her to try something," Skitter said. "Nothing major, just a team to back me up."

"We didn't think Rune was going to actually attack Taylor so soon," Tattletale said. "It really fucked with our plan, moving up our timetable by a few weeks."

"And you didn't think to tell me that Rune was stalking you?" Victoria demanded, looking pointedly at Skitter.

"Vicky, please?" Tattletale chuckled. "What do you think you would've done we told you Taylor was being targeted."

I'd have thrown a fucking bus at that cu-

"I would've handled it!" Victoria growled, ignoring Tattletale's smug smirk.

"Of course, you would," Tattletale said, every so patronisingly. "Skitter and I simply saw an opportunity too good to pass up."

Victoria was about to raise another biting point of contention before the door opened again. Regent walked in with the same casual arrogance that Vicky had expected from such a guy. He stopped midway into the room and looked at the trio, and Grue, seated around the desk.

"Oh dang," He said, snapping his fingers. "Gloom Girl is back and looking badass."

"She's not Gloom Girl, Regent," Tattletale said with an eye-roll.

"Deimos is joining us for this meeting," Skitter added, motioning for a seat opposite Victoria.

"Is she joining!?" An excited squeal of a question jumped Vicky from her seat. The Undersider's mystery Stranger appeared behind her, inspecting the suit. "Please tell me she's joining? She looks so badass!"

"That's what I said," Regent chuckled.

"Skitter! I want a hood!" Imp added, shaking Skitter's chair. "When are you gonna get round to updating my suit? Give it a hood!"

"If I remember," Skitter said back, drily.

"Take a seat, Imp," Grue added, motioning to the chair next to Vicky. Imp made a point of walking all the way around Grue and sitting next to Regent. Victoria got the vibe that those two were an item, and Grue did not like that at all.

"Alright," Grue said, ignoring Imp's seating choice. "Anyone seen Bitch?"

"She's coming," Skitter said. "Walking to us now,"

"Hey, before she gets here," Regent said in a low, conspiratorial tone. "Anyone else notice Bitch acting kinda weird today?"

"Weird how?" Tattletale asked.

"I don't know," Regent shrugged. "Just like, less... Bitchy. I accidentally walked into her this morning and do you know what she said?... Don't worry about it."

Everyone at the table looked up to Regent, Victoria felt like she was missing out on some great revelation.

"Don't worry about it?" Grue repeated with scepticism. "To you?"

"Yeah," Regent said, gesturing to the team. "Those were her exact words. I was ready to be slapped across the face. I guess I was in a way."

"It's been nice knowing you," Imp said, patting Regent on the shoulder. "She's obviously decided to kill you later and granted you one small mercy."

Grue and Tattletale chuckled at the joke while Regent continued to claim that his story was true. Looking around the room, Victoria could see the strange juxtaposition of her reality. The Undersider's were kids, no different from the Wards. They had relationships, squabbles and jokes between each other. Even in their intimidating and oddly varied costumes, these were just a bunch of teens.

A few minutes passed and Bitch walked through the door, the girl wore her trademark jacket and cheap dog mask, but threw the mask off the second she sat down, taking the chair next to Victoria, much to Vicky's displeasure.

"Who's this?" Bitch asked as she shoved a pointed thumb in Vicky's direction.

"Bitch, you remember Deimos?" Tattletale said with a suppressed, closed-lip smile. "She'll be joining us, for today."

"Oh, right," Bitch nodded, looking Vicky over with a side glance. The girl held a contemptuous glare that didn't go away, eventually, Vicky realised that this was just her natural expression.

"H-hello again," Victoria said, holding a hand out to shake. Bitch didn't reciprocate. Victoria was worried that the girl's anger would turn into a problem when Regent spoke up again.

"Seriously? That's it?" Regent sighed out. "You straight up attacked Skitter when she joined the team and Demolition Barbie just gets an 'oh right' and a glare?"

"She never attacked me," Imp said with a chuckle.

"The fuck are you on about?" Bitch grumbled.

"Just... Forget it," Regent sagged into his chair. "Let's just get on with it."

"Right... let's," Grue said, pressing a button on his overpriced chair that dimmed the lights. "Before we start, we have some guests today, so remember not to use names. Bitch, mask on, okay?" Bitch made a confused frown and gestured to the air with her hands, Grue held his stare until the girl sighed and placed her mask back on her face. "Alright, so yesterday's impromptu operation went off without a hitch."

Tattletale pressed some buttons on the table by her seat and a video wall lit up with Skitter's message to the Empire playing in silence.

"Since then," Tattletale took over, pulling up two more videos. "The PRT and New Wave have also sent out similar messages to the public, denouncing the Empire's actions. While the PRT gave a very Swiss stance to the whole thing, New Wave were a lot more vocal about their hatred of the Eighty-eight. So, go Brandish and Lady Photon." She smiled Victoria's way, who simply returned the stare.

"Oh, we should send them, like, flowers," Imp called out. "And a thank you card."

"We've also received word that the E88's leadership has been in an uproar over the incident." Grue took over again, "Stormtiger, Hookwolf and Cricket have all been seen entering private gatherings. And Kaiser himself sent out his own statement of the facts a few hours ago."

Tattletale tapped her screen again and a webpage to an Empire's website popped up, a long page of text ran down the screen.

"It's really a riveting read," Tattletale said sarcastically. "But I'll spare you the details. As predicted, the Empire is putting all the blame on Rune, calling her an independent and denying any involvement, yada yada. Same old bullcrap."

Regent raised his hand. "Yeah, this is great entertainment and all, but wasn't the plan to do all this in like... two to three weeks, when we had more manpower and some extra support? Aren't the Empire just going to steamroll us like a herd of rhinos?"

"No, not at all," Skitter answered, gesturing to a map of Brockton Bay displayed that Tattletale flicked up on the wall. "So far, our bluff has held, we've been able to convince the Empire that Coil's forces are as strong as ever. They're still too cowardly to make the first move."

"But they did make the first move?" Victoria asked. "Rune literally tried to kidnap you, right?"

"Rune was an unexpected opportunity," Skitter explained to her, "But from what we have gathered, Kaiser didn't approve of her plan, at all."

"So all this is true?" Victoria asked, pointing to Kaiser's statement on the wall.

"Yeah, pretty much," Tattletale chuckled. "The public doesn't believe it for shit, and that's what we want."

Imp and Regent laughed at Tattletale's remark. Victoria wasn't amused, but she understood. The Undersiders couldn't fire the first shot, regardless of their manpower, they needed a reason to go to war and to look good doing it, and Rune gave them the perfect reason.

"Since then, support for us has been through the roof," Tattletale continued. "Hashtag, Stand with Skitter has been a major success. I've had teams on social media all morning keeping it running."

"You did that!?" Victoria balked, almost falling from her chair.

"Yeah," Tattletale chuckled. "Coil had a whole social media division, I thought it was a stupid waste of money at first but then I thought... Damn, I could really use that. So we kept it."

"Anyway, back to your question, Regent," Grue spoke up again. "Skitter's micromanaging squads have held off any immediate attacks from the Empire, and thanks to Tattletale and myself, we'll have some more manpower to throw around in the coming days."

"Right, how was the trip to Boston?" Imp asked, looking over to Tattletale. Victoria followed with a questioning look.

"Productive," Tattletale smiled back. "I already knew that Coil had dealings with Accord, we met on neutral ground, through proxies. He agreed not to kill us in retribution for Coil's death so long as we continue to uphold all of his previous deals he had with the snake, mainly a lot of gun running through the Bay down to Boston. It's all set up anyway, we just don't need to touch it," She froze her smile and slowly turned her head around to Deimos's blank glare. "I-I mean, candy and ice cream deliveries..." She let out an awkward chuckle.

Vicky sighed under her mask and elected to simply experience selective hearing for the rest of the day, as that seemed the only way to get through this nightmare she found herself in.

"A-anyway," Tattletale continued after clearing her throat. "Beyond promising not to kill us all, Accord also showed me where all the usual underlords hire boatloads of trained mercenaries from, so we should be replenishing our reserves once I vet them. It's uh... very costly though, so might be a problem in the long term."

"We also have people from the docks asking to volunteer to help out after yesterday's stunt," Skitter added. "Obviously not in any mercenary capacity, but it would be a waste to pass up on volunteers."

Grue didn't look too pleased about that but he didn't say anything to the matter.

"As for the other effect of Skitter's message," Grue said instead. "I've reached out to some of the local parahumans who are willing to stand with us against the Empire," Grue pulled out a handwritten note from his jacket pocket and read down the list. "Uber and Leet are, quote, down to clown so long as we get paid, unquote. Circus seems to think that we're still paying him, we might want to look into that, regardless, they're onboard if needed. And someone called Bakuda showed interest, I wasn't sure if she had any ABB connections, but Tattletale tells me no."

"She's a bomb tinkerer," Tattletale explained to the group. "Was arrested by the New York Protectorate when she tried to blow up her school or something. A little unstable, keep her as a maybe. What about Faultline's crew? Any bites from them?"

Grue let out a chuckle. "Kinda, but you're not going to like it."

"They're not gonna help?" Tattletale sighed.

"Oh, they'll help. They just have some... Conditions." Grue said back.

"Great..." Tattletale whined. "Let's hear them."

Grue pulled out a separate note in his pocket and cleared his throat again.

"One," Grue read aloud. "No suicide missions. They won't risk anyone for our war, any assignment needs a solid plan."

"I always make a solid plan," Tattletale grumbled back.

"Two. Payment is to be made in full before any operation is to commence. No exceptions. They sent us a list of prices, it's more than double of last year's rate."

"That greedy shit," Tattletale muttered.

"And three. Before Faultline even considers working with us again, she expects..." Grue sighed for a moment and tensed for the inevitable outburst. "A genuine apology from Tattletale. In-person, to the entire team."

"What!?" Tattletale balked. "Me? For what?"

"According to her, you know what you did," Grue said, pulling out yet another note from his pocket. "Specifically, she wants you to read this message during open mic night at the Palanquin."
Tattletale snatched the note from Grue's hand and quietly read it over. Vicky watched in amazement as the girl slowly went red in the face. After a short moment, Tattletale scrunched up the note and threw it over her shoulder.

"No. Fuck no. She can go to hell. Who the fuck does she think she is? Fuck that. No, I ain't saying shit!"

"T..." Grue said back to her. "We kinda need them if we wanna take on the Empire."

"Fuck you, we don't need shit," Tattletale snapped back. "We have Deimos, we're invincible."

"She's temporary," Grue said before Vicky could speak up. "And do you really want to throw her at Hookwolf alone?"

Quietly, Tattletale stood up and picked up the paper that she threw. Placing it into her pocket before sitting back down again. Grue nodded and didn't speak any more on the subject. It was up to Tattletale to sort out that deal in her own time.

"So..." Regent spoke up as tensions lifted from the room. "Those dockworkers that we have working for us, or going to have working for us. Do they get cool uniforms too? Cause I keep thinking back to my Underside gang idea, and I was thinking-"

"Not a gang," Grue said blankly.

"Yes, yes," Regent waved the comment away. "But we should give them uniforms, or maybe, something that sets them apart at least, maybe some patches to add to their work clothes so we can identify them. That would be cool, right?

"I drew some emblem ideas at school today," Imp added, pulling out a workbook filled with colourful pictures and doodles. "We could turn one of them into a patch. Anybody know how to sew? Skitter?"

Skitter shook her head. "I'm still busy making up costume adjustments for all of you. I'm not wasting my spider silk on emblems."

"I like that one," Bitch said, pointing to the emblem design that featured her monster dogs. "Put it on my jacket."

Imp giggled proudly and pushed her book towards Bitch, who took it and started to flip through the pages.

"Guys, priorities," Tattletale sighed, looking to Vicky and giving a 'this is what I have to work with' look. "We don't have the time or the skill to make badges for people's jackets."

"Actually," Grue sighed, groaning to himself like he might regret what he said next. "We might have someone who can help with that," Tattletale blinked back in surprise as Imp and Regent collectively gasped. Pulling out a phone, Grue held it up to his mask. "Yes, is she still in the lobby? Send her in." He flipped his phone shut and looked towards the door.

"Who's in the lobby?" Victoria asked the group. Most everyone looked surprised by Grue's revelation, except Skitter who probably was aware of the mystery person the entire time.

"Where is the lobby?" Bitch added, looking up from the book of drawings.

Grue returned his attention to the first list of names he read off earlier. "While I spent most of the day reaching out to Brockton Bay's criminal parahumans as a resource of individuals for us to hire, I did get one person who actually reached out to us after yesterday. She's hesitant to work with the Undersiders, so I didn't want her to feel forced into a meeting unless she was comfortable. Bitch, play nice. If she backs down, let her leave. No arguments."

There was a knock on the door and everyone in the room turned to face it. Skitter was the one who eventually called out.

"Come in."

The door opened as a short woman in a Victorian-style porcelain doll costume walked in. She stopped shortly after entering, not willing to get any closer to the Undersiders. Vicky recognised the woman as Parian, the rogue cape who made dresses and dolls on the boardwalk. Vicky had walked by her store just the previous day while working with the Wards.

"Good evening," Parian said, the nerves evident in her voice.

"Parian?" Victoria said in surprise. Looking between the cape and Grue. "How? What? Parian?"

"Yes," Grue confirmed the obvious with a nod. "Please, take a seat. Make yourself comfortable."

"I'm more comfortable standing," Parian said, not willing to get any closer into the room. Grue nodded again and didn't push the offer.

"She came to us?" Tattletale said with a smile. "Well, I'll be…"

"Oh my god, I love your store!" Imp cheered. Parian jumped slightly, obviously only now noticing the Stranger. "I'm in there every other week."

"T-thank you," Parian said. She relaxed a little around the sight of Imp but still continued to glance cautiously at Vicky and Skitter.

"You wanted to meet with us in person?" Skitter asked, "Aren't you afraid of wandering into our base all by yourself?"

"Skitter," Grue warned.

"She has a point," Bitch grumbled. "It's a stupid idea. Why is she even here?"

"I'm not as frail as I appear to be," Parian spoke up, her confidence didn't match her words. "Also I did my research on your group before reaching out to Grue. You're not as violent as the PRT want people to believe. I wouldn't have come if I thought that you would attack me." The eyes behind her porcelain mask started cautiously at Bitch, but she didn't say any more.

"She wanted to meet in person so she could evaluate us," Tattletale explained to the rest of the team. "She's still considering if she wants to join us in our crusade or not."

"That's right," Parian agreed. Tattletale bowed her head in pride.

"Well then," Grue said, sitting up straighter in his chair. "Why don't you tell us what you're hoping to see and we'll give ourselves a chance to sell ourselves."

"When I watched Skitter drop Coil off at the front out the front of the PRT, my heart broke," Parian explained. "Not because I held any love for the man, no far from it. But because I knew what that meant for the Empire and this city. I was angry, I thought you were all complete idiots who doomed us all for pretty power plays or whatever."

"And then you saw Skitter's message," Tattletale said with a smile.

"And then I saw Skitter's message," Parian echoed. "I've watched this city let me down day after day. My circle of safety slowly chipping away while the Protectorate do nothing. The only thing stopping me from leaving this city is that I don't want to let those people win. So if you're serious about this fight, if you actually mean what you said, then I want in. I want a seat at the table... this table. Whatever." Parian's stance grew bolder as she spoke. "Of course, I'm not a combative cape myself, and I certainly have no intention of taking part in your thievery or the like. But if people are finally taking on the Empire, then I can respect that much. I just want to help, however I can. I can't sit around and hope that things in this city will finally get better, because they won't, they never have."

"So, you wanna join the team, but not be a member of the team?" Bitch asked. "We already got this one here being useless," Bitch nodded her head towards Vicky. "What does she actually bring to this table?"

"Uh, she can make us uniforms, obviously," Imp said, waving her book in Bitch's face.

"Well damn, she has my vote then," Regent chuckled.

"I'm all for it," Tattletale smiled. "We'll find a way for her to fight the good fight. Right, Skitter?"

"I'm not sure," Skitter hummed. "We don't really know anything about her. How do we know she isn't going to betray us later down the line?"

"Projecting much?" Tattletale chuckled under her breath, Vicky barely heard her say it. She spoke again to the rest of the table. "I trust her, everything she's said so far has been the truth. A temporary alliance, while we deal with the Empire. No crime needed. Same deal we have with Deimos here."

"Skitter? Any objections?" Grue asked, looking at her. Skitter looked to Tattletale but quickly shook her head. "Bitch? Any issues?"

"Ehh, I don't really care," Bitch waved Grue off. "Just don't fuck with my dogs."

"Trust me, that won't be a problem," Parian said with a nod.

"Deimos? Thoughts?" Grue called out, everyone turned to her.

Vicky startled in her chair for a moment. "Huh? Why are you asking me?"

"You're part of this team too," Tattletale said with a smile.

"I am..." Vicky trailed off. She was about to say, 'I am certainly not part of this team,' but then she thought about her current predicament. A villainous name, a villainous costume, sitting in a villainous lair with her villainous girlfriends' villainous team, taking part in a villainous meeting. "Oh god, I am..." Vicky placed her head into her hands and apologised to her mother through telepathy she didn't have. "Fine, whatever. Yes. She seems like a lovely choice. Though, Parian, Take my advice and run before these lot drag you down with them."

"N-noted," Parian said, looking at Vicky with a confused stance.

"That's a yes around the room," Grue nodded to all of his teammates, "Parian, we can discuss the specifics of what you're comfortable doing with us, as well as get an update on where we are with our plan. Please, don't feel pressured to unmask-" Bitch pulled her mask off immediately and threw it on the table. "-around us. We'll respect your anonymity."

"Oh, and since we forgot to say it last time," Tattletale jumped up with a smile. "We'll say it together now. Parian, Deimos... Welcome to the Undersiders."

Vicky sank down into her chair and whined.

 

[Dradel]

Parian getto!

 

[Tsumegothorns]

Not my sweet Vicky taking be gay do crimes to a whole another level. I'm just existing here, having a cackle.

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[space turtle]

Nooo!!! I'm a good girl I promise!
I only happen to look like the evil little sister of Alexandria!
I just associate with bad guys!!!

Poor Vicky couldn't even stop the next useless lesbian from falling into the orbit of the "golden hearted" band of crooks.

 

[Kehsem]

Collateral Damage Barbie is only going to learn that, despite now moonlighting as a villain, she'll still have to maintain good PR by not smashing everything in sight.

The lines between good and evil have begun to blur.

I very much want to see if Dinah and Bakuda join the band. Accidentally becoming the largest gathering of capes / warlords in the Northeast would be great.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Sorry for the wait. Writers block is a bitch. Also, I was busy spreading managed democracy across the galaxy Helldivers 2 has consumed all my free time

---

Undersiders Base – Late Afternoon

The bullet was fired from the chamber, striking its target with deadly precision. After several more shots were fired, all landing within close proximity of the bullseye, the gun was lowered and a new marksman took its place.

"And here we have the firing range!" Tattletale called out to the group as bullets were once again let loose. "Here, our mercenaries run through their drills, keeping themselves in top shape and ready for when they're needed. We even have some expert trainers here if you ever want to learn how to fire a gun."

"Yeah… that's never gonna happen," said Deimos, shaking her head along with Parian.

After the meeting and a quick discussion with Grue, the two newest members of the Undersiders were given a complimentary, open-door tour of the base. To allay all fears that their operation was anything more than a bunch of misguided youths with grand ideals, they had decided to show them everything there was. All the training facilities, all the amenities, all the rooms, all the people who worked for them, and all the boring, mundane paperwork.

"You sure?" Skitter asked, looking between the two new girls and the firing range. "I never liked the idea of carrying a firearm, but I have to admit, they have their uses. And it's always nice to have another way to defend yourself if things go wrong."

Deimos hadn't yet made mention of Skitter's latest addition to her costume. A large, black handgun was hidden behind a silk skirt. There was no doubt in her mind that it was the same gun Skitter had used to kill Coil, why the girl would choose to carry a reminder of her guilt was a mystery to Vicky.

"Yeah... still no."

"Pass."

Tattletale chuckled, inspecting her own gun from its holster. "Let 'em be, Skitter. It's best for everyone to stick to their strengths."

The mercenary currently showing off his rifle skills laughed under his breath. Both Tattletale and Skitter turned in his direction, staring the man down.

"Oh, my apologies, Miss Tattletale," The mercenary said in a sarcastic and Russian accent. "But if shooting is your strength, then I worry for the state of this operation."

"Thank you for your helpful contribution, Dimitri," Tattletale sighed with an obvious eye-roll. "I'll be sure to make a note of your opinion. For next week's staff reviews."

Dimitri's smirk held as he fired two more shots at his target.

"This is Major Dimitri... no surname given," Tattletale explained to the group, gesturing to the man. "He's in charge of general security, training, and all-round being an ass."

"Major?" Dimitri chuckled. "Strange, Mr Grue called me Colonel at lunch today."

"As I was saying, Captain Dimitri is our point of call between capes and mercenaries," Tattletale continued, ignoring the remark. "He reports directly to me and Grue. If you ever have a problem with a merc or need to plan a last-minute op and can't reach us, he's the one you go to. The men don't move without his say-so. Dimitri, this is Parian and Deimos. You've met the latter before, they'll be joining the team. Security class 3 dash A."

"Understood, Ma'am," He nodded, with more professional respect in his tone, before returning to his usual grin.

The man mumbled something in Russian that none of the capes understood, judging by his tone and the way Tattletale sighed, it was more of a complaint than a joke. Vicky had only ever taken a passing interest in foreign languages, but recognised the man was grumbling something about 'children.'

"Anyway, the point is. Of all the faceless mooks in this base, this guy is the one you wanna remember," Tattletale thumbed down to Dimitri as the man packed up and cleaned his rifle. "In all seriousness though, you have any questions or need anything, Dimitri is your guy. If he tells you to do something, he usually knows what he's doing. Treat him like the rest of the team."

"Pleasure to meet you," The man bowed his head, slinging the rifle over his shoulder before turning back to Tattletale. "In that case, I suggest you get more practice on the range before you start going after the Empire. Your accuracy is atrocious at longer ranges, and you can't outthink every encounter... Ma'am."

Tattletale sighed again, but this time had more of a smile to it. "Understood Dimitri, Skitter and I will swing by once we finish our tour."

"Oh, Skitter's accuracy is perfect," Dimitri said, nodding respectfully to the villain in question. "If anything, she should be the one teaching you."

Tattletale looked back to Skitter, a look of shock and offence on her face. "But... I... I taught you how to shoot in the first place!"

Skitter didn't reply, only shrugging in response.

"You use your powers to cheat, that's not fair!" Tattletale pointed back to the girl. Again, all Skitter did was shrug wordlessly.

---------------------------------------------------

Against the wall of the room, Parian slid up closer to Deimos and whispered into her ear. "For a group of villains running the second-largest gang in the city, I was expecting a little more..." She struggled to find the word.

"Menace? Danger?" Deimos suggested.

"Maturity," Parian decided on.

Deimos chuckled. "That's not a word I'd use to describe this lot." Parian looked over the brute with a fresh pair of eyes, reevaluating the mystery villain she had been paired up with for the day. "Yeah, they're childish," Deimos continued with a smile in her voice. "And yeah, they can be reckless, stupid, and a total pain to deal with. But you'll get used to it. They're good people, deep down."

Tattletale was in the middle of arguing how Skitter's accuracy on the made-up scoreboard should be disqualified because she was cheating by using her bugs as targets. Dimitri countered by saying being parahuman, in general, is cheating, and that life isn't fair.

"So you know them?" Parian asked curiously. "Like, outside all this?"

"What?" Deimos stuttered. "What makes you think that?"

"Just a guess," Parian shrugged. "I never heard of you until today, yet they seemed to trust you more than they trust me."

"We worked together..." Deimos said. "Only once, a temporary truce. That's all."

"Right..." Parian said, not believing a word of it. "And the fact that your costume is made from the same material as Skitters. What is that anyway? Looks like silk, but far too durable."

"S-spider silk," Deimos admitted. "Skitter has these special spiders that make... I don't know. Super web, silk… stuff? It can stop a knife. Add to that the insect shell armour and then you're bulletproof. Supposedly."

"Fascinating," Parian said, inspecting the outfit. "I wonder if I can get a sample?" She mumbled to herself before looking back at Deimos, "And she made this for you?"

Deimos nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, it's... my first time wearing it. It's actually really comfortable. Like... weirdly comfortable."

Parian giggled. Deimos was not at all what she was expecting when she first saw that intimidating costume. She'd done her research on the Undersiders before coming here, Grue was professionally respectable enough to make the initial offer worth considering, and she expected to put up with Tattletale's smug bitchiness.

Skitter was something of a wildcard, Parian wasn't sure what to expect from her. The immediate distrust was concerning, but paranoid seemed to fit the profile. Regent seemed far too apathetic to the whole thing and would've been the biggest unknown, if not for the Stranger that appeared during the introductions. Grue himself had pre-warned about Bitch. Parian had decided that she would remain far away from that girl for the duration of this partnership, as much as she liked dogs, it wasn't worth the trouble.

Then the team sprang Deimos on her, a complete and utter unknown cape with a costume that was as terrifying as Skitter's. Not a single clue as to the cape's personality or motives, Parian could only assume that they would be the same brand of paranoid, violent and scary as the bug master herself.

The entire assumption went away the second Deimos opened her mouth. Finding out it was another woman under the mask was a pleasant surprise, learning that the person behind the costume was the exact opposite of a hard-ass supervillain was a relief.

"I'm glad I'm not the only rogue here," Parian admitted to the girl. "Makes falling in with this lot of thieves a slight bit more palatable."

"I still can't believe they recruited Parian," Deimos chuckled to herself. "I'm sorry. But you're the last person I was expecting here today."

"I take it you know my work?" Parian asked, a smile behind her mask.

"I might've gone to a couple of your shows," Deimos chuckled. "I mean... you're pretty famous in Brockton."

"Fame is relative," Parian sighed.

"Everyone knows about your shop," Deimos said back, a little more pep in her tone. "Even my sis- uh, best friend wouldn't stop talking about you when she found out."

Parian chuckled softly. "You know I don't actually own a shop, right? I just do odd jobs around the boardwalk. The shop everybody talks about is owned by a Mr Lee. Hired me to make some stuffed toys for him one winter, and the store got so popular, he keeps bringing me back."

"Huh," Deimos pondered to herself.

With Deimos cleared of being any actual threat, Parian relaxed and enjoyed the superposed tour. She looked back at her 'teammates,' Tattletale and Skitter still debating over who is the better shot, or by this point, Skitter informing Tattletale that holding a gun one-handed is a horrible stance and not at all practical.

She watched the exchange with amusement until a thought entered her mind.

"Do you think those two are an item?"

Deimos shifted in her lean against the wall. "No, what? Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"Skitter and Tattletale," Parian said again, nodding towards the two villains. "They seem close. More than teammates, or friends. Makes me wonder if they're dating outside the mask business."

"O-oh," Deimos said, her tone dropping. "I-I don't know. Probably best not to think about what we get up to in our civilian lives, right?"

For a brief moment, Parian felt a knot in her throat, a feeling she was a little too familiar with. She didn't often talk about it, but the subject was a sore spot for her. She had hoped that in a crew fighting against literal Nazis that she wouldn't have to censor her thoughts, but it seemed the idea of a gay couple was discomforting for Deimos.

At least that was Parian's first concern. But the tone Deimos had wasn't one of dismissal out of discomfort or disgust. Looking up at the girl, her gaze was fixed on Skitter and had been for much of the tour. Deimos obviously had some kind of connection to the bug master, perhaps Deimos was the tragic victim of the classic love triangle. Watching her beloved Skitter be hit on by the charming and flirtatious Tattletale. Or perhaps it was the other way round, and Tattletale had a very specific type of woman she liked, and Deimos was trying to fit the part.

In any case, Parian was instantly invested in the unravelling story that she was making in her mind. Parian spent a lot of her free time reading romance novels to make up for the lack of love in her life, and it translated to her often imagining sapphic stories and couples whenever she daydreamed. While she didn't know enough about either cape, the idea of Skitter and Tattletale hooking up and having a secret relationship was far too tantalising for her not to fantasise about, especially with throuples on the brain thanks to New Wave's recent announcement.

"Anyway!" Tattletale said loudly, walking away from her debate with Skitter and Dimitri. "That concludes the tour. Unless you girls have any other questions or concerns."

Parian and Deimos shared a glance, both shrugging at the same time.

"Then that's it!" Tattletale cheered, clapping her hands together. "The exit is this way. I look forward to working with both of you."

"Actually, we still need to talk about that," Deimos spoke with an annoyed tone in her voice. "Privately…

Parian wasn't sure what that was about, but she had seen enough to feel confident with her decision. This could be the start of something new, and while she wasn't going to jump straight to crime, she could at least give this group a chance to make a difference in this city. Skitter motioned for the exit as Parian followed closely behind, the villain was all kinds of odd as Parian couldn't find a solid read on them, besides being intimidating as hell.

The two walked silently through the halls until she was led out of the same lobby she entered from. Parian wasn't sure how Skitter navigated her way through the endless maze of hallways, but she assumed that in time, she'd become familiar with the landscape.

"Thanks for the tour," Parian said, giving a polite curtsy to the tall girl. She really wanted to ask Skitter about the material she used to make her and Deimos's suit, but wasn't sure if today was the best time to bring it up.

"Here," Skitter said, fishing something out of the back of her back. Parian tried her best not to flinch in Skitter's presence, a harder task than she thought it'd be. Skitter held out a small, square of silk. About the size of a folded napkin.

"W-what?" Parian asked, taking the gift and inspecting it.

"You wanted a sample?" Skitter asked, tilting her head. "Let me know if you can work with it, I have some projects that could use your expertise on."

"Oh," Parian said, looking back up. "Thank you... I'm sure I can find a use for it."

Skitter gave a nod and left Parian standing by the doors. A very strange woman, but Parian still smiled at the gift. She was already confident that she could make something great from the material but didn't feel like chasing back after the villain to ask for more. She'd turn this small sample into something she could show the team, a taste of what she could do. Parian tried to remember the open page of emblems that were sitting on the Undersider's meeting table when she walked in. The design seemed simple enough.

-------------------------------------

Tattletale and Deimos watched as Skitter led Parian out of the base. Leaving the two alone to return to the empty briefing room again. Tattletale pressed a button on the head chair, allowing any windows in the room to fade from black and locking the doors.

Annoyed, conflicted. Feels strong-armed into joining the Undersiders. Convincing herself this is only a temporary arrangement. Understands the logic of being here. Agrees that the Empire can't remain unchecked. Wishes Lisa and Taylor had more faith in law enforcement and heroes.

Lisa sat on the desk and looked back to Deimos, shooting a mischievous and playful look at the girl in an attempt to keep things light.

"You can unmask here," Lisa said, motioning to Vicky's mask. "Only three people have access to this room now, and Grue is busy doing admin work. Plus I know how much you hate wearing that."

Deimos's hand moved to her head and then hovered for a moment. Pondering if unmasking in the middle of Coil's base... of Lisa and Taylor's base was a wise idea. In the end, she trusted Lisa. Deimos flicked her hood back and pulled off her mask.

Lisa's smile grew slightly wider upon seeing Victoria's actual face. The girl was pretty. Beautiful to a distracting degree, even wearing the intimidating costume that Taylor had made for her. Lisa didn't know exactly when she stopped viewing Victoria as 'conventionally attractive' and started thinking the blonde was beautiful, but the line had been crossed a while ago and she was stuck firmly on the other side.

It made conversations like this all the more difficult because she knew Victoria was upset with her and seeing that beautiful face frown, knowing that Lisa was the cause of it... that didn't sit right with Lisa.

"So," Lisa said as casually as possible. "Before we start, I want to be as transparent with you as possible. Yes, we wanted you to work with us from the beginning of this whole takeover plan. Yes, Taylor built that suit as a bribe to try and sway you to our side. And yes, I know how you feel about that."

Victoria didn't reply. Only stared back, waiting for Lisa to finish.

"But," Lisa continued. "This is a two-way street. You're not just working for us, we're working with you. We have no intention of forcing you to do anything you're uncomfortable with," Victoria raised a pointed finger and opened her mouth, Lisa cut in again. "Anything you're truly, deeply uncomfortable with. We have a pretty good idea of your hard limits and believe me, Tay and I have no intention of pressing you against them. All this," Lisa waved around the room. "Is an impromptu solution for the current crisis, and once this is all over, we reassess, go back to our usual deal. If you want out, we won't stop you."

Victoria didn't immediately respond. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched, she took a deep breath.

Glad that Lisa Wilbourn is being honest with her. Happy to spend more time with both women she cares for. Still concerned about the morality of her actions. Unsure if she can trust herself to hold to her beliefs while working with the Undersiders.

Victoria sighed. "Why did you have to build such a comfortable fucking costume?" she whined, a small smile appeared on her face.

"Taylor really knows her stuff," Lisa agreed, pulling on the fabric of her own costume. It was cosmetically the same as her previous outfit, but the material was lighter, far more comfortable and offered better protection than the suit Coil had supplied her. "Tay has a whole laundry list of requests for the other Undersider's outfits. Hopefully, Parian can lighten the load."

Victoria chuckled lightly, and it made Lisa smile. Then Victoria's smile wavered again as she fell into deep thought.

Happy to joke around with Lisa. Noticed how quickly Lisa can make her forget concerns. Worried that social Thinker is manipulating her. Guilty that she has to question Lisa Wilbourn's motives.

"You're worried about me manipulating you into accepting all this," Lisa said with a sombre smile. Victoria hesitated, shaking her head to deny the statement. "Psychic remember?" Lisa chuckled, tapping her head.

"My mother always said," Victoria muttered aloud. "Never let a Thinker speak."

Lisa tried not to let it bother her. At least, she showed no outward emotion on her face beyond her usual grin. It was a common concern everyone had with her power. People who knew what she could do would distrust her, they would always assume the worst.

"Would you prefer if I shut up?" Lisa asked, the smile on her face fading.

"No," Victoria said. "I'm rather fond of your voice," Lisa's smile returned to her lips. "It just makes any potential arguments with my Thinker girlfriend a bit of a struggle," Victoria smirked back at her. "Good thing I like challenges."

"Wouldn't be dating both of us if you didn't," Lisa chuckled. She reached out to grab Vicky's hand, interlocking her fingers with her own. "Might I suggest a blatant bribe to ease the tension? A mutual transaction if you will."

Victoria cocked her head, unsure of what Lisa was proposing.

"Well, we could talk about how we railroaded you into an impossible situation. Knowing that you wouldn't try to arrest us in an attempt to spend more quality time with you," Lisa stated casually. "You'll tell me how that makes you feel ignored and disrespected and I'll spend the rest of the day feeling like shit for manipulating the person I care about most even though I honestly believed this was the best course of action. And I could convince you, without a shadow of a doubt, why this is the best course of action..."

"Or?..." Victoria asked.

"Or... you could just kiss me," Lisa smirked. "And never let the Thinker speak?"

-------------------------------------
Skitter typed in the code to the meeting room door. She didn't have any bugs inside and so had no idea what Tattletale and Deimos were discussing. However, she had a good guess.

Taylor had spent the entire tour mentally preparing herself for this next bit. Victoria was going to be pissed, Taylor knew that. It was inevitable. But Taylor had learned long ago that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission, and this was too important to let her fears get in the way.

Victoria was smart, she'd see things for what they were. She knew why the Undersiders did what they did and how the PRT were useless against the coming tide of the Empire. No one wanted a city to be run by criminals of any type, but even Vicky could agree that the Undersiders were the lesser evil here.

Taylor had the speech in her head ready. She'd be concise and firm. Victoria was bound to be emotional, perhaps she would even yell and shout, Taylor would just stand there and take it, allowing her girlfriend to voice all her grievances and worries. Then when Vicky calmed down, hopefully, the trio could come to an understanding.

As Taylor opened the door to the meeting room, she fully expected to be greeted by an ongoing argument between Lisa and Victoria. Taylor's first priority would be to make sure that Victoria didn't feel like she was taking Lisa's side, the last thing she wanted was to trap Vicky in an argument where she felt isolated and backed into a corner.

However, Taylor was surprised to find the room devoid of arguing. Instead, Taylor was met with the sounds of giggling and... kissing?

Lisa lay spread across the oversized table with Victoria on top of her. The two girls were wrapped up in each other's arms, making out in a rather heated fashion.

"O-oh?" Taylor murmured behind her mask. Both girls looked up and towards her direction. Taylor was thankful that the mask was able to hide the sudden redness of her cheeks. She looked at Victoria specifically. "I-I was just going to make sure that your feelings were... heard and whatnot."

Victoria and Lisa shared a look and then laughed, Taylor took a cautious step towards her girlfriends.

"We were just having that conversation," Lisa grinned, still wrapped in Victoria's arms.

"I see," Taylor said, stepping closer.

"Lisa has promised not to speak again, ever," Victoria added.

"That's... that's good?" Taylor asked, missing the context but happy that they weren't fighting.

"Yup," Victoria agreed, popping the 'p' sound.

"And are we... good?" Taylor asked, now standing over the two girls.

Victoria smiled, reaching a hand out to grab onto Taylor's own, pulling the girl close. Taylor was about to offer her support to Vicky, but instead, the heroine grabbed her mask and pulled Taylor in for a kiss. Taylor took that as an affirmative.

After a short while, Taylor pulled herself away from the cuddle pile and looked at Victoria again. She wanted to offer an apology or a condolence of some kind. Victoria shook her head in response to the incoming statement.

"We're good, Tay," Victoria said with a soft smile. "I'm still upset about this whole thing. You both know my feelings. I'm never gonna be comfortable with what you two do. But..." Victoria glanced back at Lisa, the pair smiling at one another. "I trust you, I love you both and I get why you both think this is the best course of action. It's not like I can convince you both to join New Wave or anything. So, we're good."

Taylor let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, that's great."

"Told you I could convince her," Lisa teased, looking up at Taylor. She then winced in pain as Vicky squeezed down on her arm. "Ow! Bad touch, bad touch!"

"Don't push it," Victoria warned, letting go of her brute grip. "I'm still mad at you."

"Better run, Tay," Lisa chuckled as she rubbed her arm. "She's already plotting her revenge."

Taylor and Lisa giggled, which in turn caused Vicky to smirk. It was good that Vicky wasn't overly upset with the two. Taylor decided that whatever revenge plan Victoria cooked up for all this would be well deserved.

Victoria moved to kiss Lisa again, wrapping a spare hand through Taylor's hair to pull her back into the pile, when Taylor looked up and towards the door. Once again, the all-seeing bug master had gotten distracted by her two beautiful girlfriends to notice someone walking up on them. It wasn't the end of the world, things were just about to get somewhat awkward.

The door slid open, Grue standing at the entrance with a small clipboard of paper in his hand.

"Tattletale, do you know where we kept the... ah." Brian froze, mask locked on the two women lying over Lisa, both unmasked and staring back at him. Brian nodded his head twice and walked backwards. "Okay... um, never mind. I'll just uh, look for it later."

Brian left, shutting the door behind him and leaving the three girls alone again. The silence in the room was deafening.

"I can't believe I was just caught in the middle of a threesome," Lisa muttered. "By my boss, no less."

"Oh, shut up," Victoria huffed, snorting a laugh. "Wait... please tell me that's not what he?…"

"He's writing a note to have the table cleaned..." Taylor added, watching through her bugs.

Lisa burst into a fit of giggles, and even Taylor couldn't help but smile a little. Victoria looked horrified at the impression she had left with Grue, which only made the girls laugh harder.

"Shit..." Victoria said with a smile growing on her face. "You think we need to report us to HR?"

"Do we even have an HR department?" Taylor asked Lisa. Lisa was too busy laughing to answer.

"Probably not," Victoria answered in her place. "We are villains after all."

Taylor smiled through her chuckle, leaning in to kiss Victoria one last time. She knew it was a joke, but all the same, Victoria's use of 'we' made her feel a warm, fuzzy feeling.

 

[Requiem_Jeer]

Lisa IS the HR department.

 

[doomlord9]

Lisa IS the HR department.

Click to shrink...

She can't be much worse at the job than the usual shitheads that tend to infest that department.

 

[Gowonzu]

Got more art commissioned by the talented Mikezzzzz

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

1. Thanks for the chapter

2. Holy shit that's is some awesome art, 7/10. Glory Girl should be Deimos instead

 

[space turtle]

Got more art commissioned by the talented Mikezzzzz

Click to shrink...

Not what people normally associate with a fender bender. But I guess having a fender bent around you achieves the the same end state. Go GG!!

I cannot wait for Parians animated string conspiracy / shipping board!!

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Shout out to Scapegrace and Clarissa for helping with the ending and Scrapegrace again for letting me use their Omake as a scene in this

---

Arcadia High School – Day

Victoria stood up to the stage, smiling a wide, toothy grin as she accepted her diploma. She shook hands with the principal and posed for the onslaught of photos from both professional photographers the school hired and the many paparazzi that had decided to crash the event. As Victoria's eyes adjusted to the many flashing lights, she spotted her friends and family amongst the crowd.

Most of her school friends were up on stage with her or waiting for their turn to accept a diploma. But Vicky could spot Taylor in the crowd, cheering as Victoria crossed the stage. The rest of her family was there too. Her parents were standing in an attempt to take their own photos, namely her father who had brought along a camera of his own. Amy clapped politely, a smile on her face as she sat down next to Eric and Crystal, who were both shooting two thumbs each at their graduating cousin.

Today was the day, Victoria officially graduated from high school. It all felt so...anticlimactic. As quickly as she marched onto the stage, she walked off it, joining up with the rest of her peers to sit down and watch the last few names called. She was happy, of that there was no doubt, but school had been such a major part of Victoria's life, now she had her paper and handshake, and that was it. She wasn't a student anymore, she was just a full-time hero.

The thought left her feeling strange.

Victoria had pictured this moment for so long, ever since she got her powers, even before then if she was being honest. Finally, she was free to put all her focus on her hero work, helping people and keeping the city safe. Glory Girl was going to be a staple of Brockton Bay, the shining light that kept the darkest hours at bay.

Yet, she spent yesterday in the dark, underground tunnels of the Undersider's base. Dressed in an unfamiliar mask that brought terror to those around it, plotting a war in the very city she vowed to protect.

Even still, she knew the reasons for what she was doing. She agreed with most of them too. If they didn't move against the Empire, eventually they'd strike first, and the heroes wouldn't be able to stop them alone.

It didn't make her feel any better.

Before Victoria knew it, the ceremony had finished. The students were free to disperse and mingle with their families. Taylor was already closer in proximity to her than the rest of her family, so Vicky caught up with her first. Taylor welcomed her with a hug and a kiss as congratulations.
"I'm so proud of you," Taylor whispered into her ear, and Victoria's heart swelled.

"It's just a high school diploma, Tay," Victoria chuckled, trying to laugh off the compliment. "Pretty much everybody gets them."

"Not everybody," Another voice said from behind. Victoria felt the comforting embrace of Lisa's arms wrapping around the already hugging couple.

"L-lisa?" Victoria balked, breaking from her hug to turn around. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" Lisa replied with a smug grin. "I can't drop by to watch my girl graduate?"

Victoria hugged Lisa by the waist and spun her around, giving her a kiss of her own before planting her right next to Taylor.

"Of course, you can," Victoria smiled, letting go of the girl. "I just thought you'd be busy with... y'know?"

Lisa waved off the comment. "Please, I always have time to spare for you two," She pulled Taylor into a shoulder hug as the two girls smiled brightly back at Vicky. "Congrats on being done with the tedium of high school. Now we just have to wait a year for this one," She shook Taylor's shoulder. "Unless you wanna study for your GED?~" She sang out playfully.

Taylor shook her head with a light chuckle. "No thanks, my mom-"

"-would have wanted me to finish high school," Lisa finished for her, rolling her eyes but not prodding the subject any harder. "Fine, fine. We still have the whole summer before you go back."

"We do have the summer, right?" Taylor asked, looking over to Victoria. "You've mentioned your plans about after high school before, they haven't... changed, have they?"

Victoria shook her head. "Don't worry, Tay. I'm not going anywhere just yet. But maybe this time next year, we could talk about universities we could look into... together?" She looked towards Lisa and added. "All three of us, perhaps?"

"Pfft, University?" Lisa chuckled. "That's small time. This time next year, the three of us will be running this- planning a trip across the country!"

Victoria did a double take on Lisa's complete one-eighty sentence before turning back to see her family coming up behind her.

"Planning a trip where?" Carol asked, having caught the last few words.

"A road trip, around the states," Lisa lied with a straight face. "Once Taylor graduates next year. It would be a fun experience."

"Oh, sounds lovely," Aunt Sarah responded, hovering over to give Victoria a hug before turning towards Vicky's two girlfriends. "You must be Lisa and Taylor? A pleasure to meet you both." She held out a hand as both girls shook it. "We've been meaning to meet you properly for some time now. Taylor, I hope you're doing well after that awful business with Rune and Skitter. I hope the experience hasn't shaken your faith in us."

"Not at all, Mrs. Pelham," Taylor gave a respectful nod. "And thank you, It's a pleasure to meet you, and your family as well."

"Wow..." Lisa said, blinking nothing out of her eyes and moving to shake Aunt Sarah's hand. "Lady Photon, it's... an honour."

"Oh please," Aunt Sarah blushed, Vicky fought an eye roll at the blatant schmoozing. "We're not in costume here, you can call me Sarah."

"Congratulations Cuz!" Crystal yelled out as she flew right into Victoria. Her brute strength was the only thing that stopped them both from collapsing to the floor. "Way to go!"

"Crystal, calm down," Eric followed, taking his sister's place as he offered a handshake of his own. "But congratulations. You should be proud."

Vicky smiled back at her two cousins, giving them both a hug. She turned around and gestured towards her two girlfriends. "Eric, Crystal, I'd like you to meet my girlfriends. Taylor and Lisa."

"Hey, nice to meet you," Eric said with a friendly smile, he extended a hand to Taylor.

"Oh my god, I didn't even notice you. Hi! I'm Crystal!" The girl said excitedly as she hovered over towards Lisa.

Lisa backed up slightly at the speed and energy being directed her way but quickly matched it with a similar energy of her own.

"Oh my god, Laserdream!" Lisa said in a higher-than-normal tone. "Vicky has told me so much about you."

"Really!?" Crystal smiled wide. "She talks about you two all the time!"

"Yeah, we've been dying to meet you guys," Lisa nodded.

"I've been telling Vicky that we should-" Crystal started.

"-go on a double date sometime!" Both girls said at the same time, followed by a shared gasp of excitement.

"Careful there, Vic," Eric chuckled. "I think Crystal might steal your girlfriend away."

"I would never!" Crystal laughed, hugging Lisa's shoulders. "But I do approve of this one!"

"And I of this one," Eric smiled, shaking Taylor's hand once more. Vicky couldn't hear what they discussed over Crystal's and Lisa's cackling but Taylor was smiling alongside him.

Both cousins swapped introductory partners, Crystal launching off Lisa to welcome Taylor with a hug while Lisa once again fangirled over the next hero she got to meet. Victoria still couldn't work out how much of Lisa's interest was genuine but regardless, she was happy with how well both girls got along with her family.

"-God, you are wasted here, come up to my university one day and let's grab lunch!" Crystal was saying to Taylor, her eyes wide with glee. "I'll let you drop in on some of my literature electives."

"I-I'd like that," Taylor mumbled with a blush.

Victoria had a brief moment of worry that Crystal was, in fact, stealing her girlfriend away, but then reminded herself that Crystal was just being her usual charming self and that Taylor was just… charmed.

"-Seriously? She hasn't!?" Eric asked in shock to whatever conversation he was having with Lisa. "Yo, Vicky!?"

Victoria turned her head back to Eric and Lisa.

"You're dating one of the biggest cape fans in the city and you haven't introduced her to the Wards yet?" Eric asked sarcastically. "What are you doing?"

"Yeah, Vicky? What are you doing?" Lisa chimed in playfully.

She could see Lisa's smugness and the hidden question within. Why won't you give Tattletale a free tour of the PRT base and access to all their secrets? Victoria knew damn well what Lisa would do if she ever met her Ward friends and as much as she loved the girl, she wasn't going to make it that easy for her.

"I'd love to introduce you girls," Victoria said, trying not to be too obvious with her sarcasm. "But Lisa's always so busy with her work. I just don't think we'll ever have the time."

"Oh right," Eric said, looking back to Lisa. "Vicky did mention that you have a full-time job."

"Aww that's a bummer," Crystal added. "That means only Taylor gets a summer vacation?"

"Actually Taylor works with me," Lisa said with a smile. "But don't worry. We'll make time to have fun too. We've already made some summer plans."

"Really?" Carol perked up, pushing her way into the group conversation. "What do you girls have planned?"

Amy joined in beside Vicky, giving her sister a congratulatory hug but not bothering to add to the discussion. Victoria tried not to stare daggers at Lisa as she proudly smiled back at Carol's question.

"Well...."

----------------------------------------------------
Dallon Household – The First Week of Summer Vacation

As had been Victoria's plan for years, Glory Girl had now transitioned into a full-time member of New Wave. While no major changes were made to the structure of the group, Victoria was now willing and able to take part in the longer patrols, late night missions and weigh in on any major meetings the team might have. Not that there were any of those during her first few days.

In fact, Glory Girl did none of her usual cape-related jobs during her first few days out as a full-time member of New Wave. As Glory Girl, she was still assigned to protecting her girlfriends from any kind of Empire attack.

Her Aunt's exact orders were to 'enjoy the summer break while watching over her girlfriends' and that they'd 'reassess the situation at a later time.'

While on paper, Vicky had no problems spending quality time with her girlfriends over the summer, it gave her villainous girlfriends the perfect excuse for Deimos to continue her work with the Undersiders.

-----------------------------------------------
The Undersider's Base - Weekend

With a heavy conscious, Vicky started her first day of full-time hero work putting on her villainous mask and joining Skitter as they prepared for their next steps against the Empire. Her mind raced over what kind of criminal activity the team would be attempting today. As with the first time Deimos entered the base, Skitter led them to the meeting room where Tattletale was waiting for them.

Tattletale planned to spend her time alternating between information gathering and base administration. Doomed to be in a seemingly never-ending line of interviews for various mercenaries, both old and new. She was still in the process of trimming the fat off Coil's old empire while recruiting to bolster the ranks of her new one. She smiled brightly as Deimos and Skitter entered the room, taking their seats as the other Undersiders filed into the room.

Victoria couldn't help but smile a little as she saw the friendly mask of Parian join with the rest of the team. Taking her seat beside Deimos.

"Looks like everyone is on time, wonderful." Grue nodded to the team as he took his seat.

"Shockingly," Regent yawned before slouching onto Imp's shoulder. "Why do we have to do a morning meeting again?"

"Because regular people are awake by nine," Tattletale said, "And some of those people have better things to do than wait around for you to wake up."

"Oh because you're soooo busy," Regent sighed sarcastically.

"You can't comprehend how busy I am these days," Tattletale spat back behind her smile. "But no, I was talking about Parian here."

Parian bowed politely. "Thank you, Tattletale. Apologize Regent, but I have to be on the Boardwalk by midday to set up for the lunchtime puppet shows."

"You know we pay you, right?" Regent drawled. "You don't have to… that."

"I have obligations with several people to put on shows throughout the summer period," Parian explained, sounding offended by Regent's idea. "Also… I very much enjoy the smiles it brings to children's faces."

Regent sighed. "What happened to this team?" He shook his head and looked over to Grue. "You hired too many women and now I have to listen to th-"

He was simultaneously slap-punched by Imp and Bitch on either side of him.

"Anyway…" Tattletale said, ignoring the boy. "I'll make this quick for all of us," She handed out dossiers on all the Empire capes along with high-ranking associates, far more detailed than what New Wave had on hand. "The information here is incredibly confidential, so I'd appreciate some tact with what we're about to discuss-"

"Max Anders!?" Deimos squawked out during the daily team meeting. "What the fuck!?" A file on Kaiser was open on the screen, a full breakdown of the cape, including civilian identity. "I've... I've been to events where he showed up. I've... I've..." Victoria looked at her hand, remembering when she was at a boring political fundraiser with Dean once, she shook the man's hand…

"I've seen him from time to time on the news," Parian said coldly. "Always gave me the creeps, guess I know why."

"We have to tell the PRT," Deimos snapped. It had been more than a year now, but she felt the need to wash her hands out of disgust.

All the Undersiders turned to look at her.

"Yeah.... no," Tattletale said as gently as she could. "If the greater cape community realised we had this information, they would crucify us. We need everyone firmly on our side here."

"But, but!?" Deimos said.

"If we know who he is, why don't we just?... y'know?" Regent asked he mimed a gun firing.

"Oh, I could go today with my knife!" Imp added in, miming a neck slash.

"No," Both Tattletale and Grue said in unison.

"We're not cold-blooded killers," Grue said holding up a single digit. "And we cannot attack anyone out of costume unless they break the rule first."

"Of course," Skitter added in. "If we can bait them to break the rule first, then all bets are off."

"Let's table that as a plan B, okay Skitter?" Tattletale said with a calming gesture. "The point of this isn't to plan an assassination, either physical or character, it's to know our enemy. This is what we're up against. How powerful the Empire truly is and why certain people in this room shouldn't feel bad when we start hitting the Medhall Corporation."

Tattletale stared directly at Deimos to hammer her point home but quickly turned back to her usual smile.

"Alright, next slide," Tattletale gestured to her screen. "These are the businesses that we have determined to be fronts. The second our war with Empire becomes hot, you can bet we'll be targeting them, so listen up."

Vicky sank into her seat, mentality preparing for the end of the day, when her mother asked what she got up to and she'd have to lie about knowing the public identity of Kaiser.

---------------------------------------------------------
The Boardwalk - Monday

"So, you're actually doing it?" Victoria asked, a smile creeping up on her lips.

While the weekend was spent hidden in the darkness of the Undersiders base, Vicky managed to pull the girls away from their work for a lunch date. Citing that Glory Girl and her girlfriends needed to be seen in the public eye, lest her family might start asking questions.

In truth, Vicky just wanted to spend some time out of the mask and in the sunlight.

"I don't know?" Taylor answered hesitantly. "Maybe? Why? Do you think I shouldn't-"

Lisa joined the table with a smoothie for each girl. Tropical mango for Taylor, mixed berry for herself and chocolate banana for Victoria. She flicked Taylor across the nose as she handed out the drinks.

"Ow!" Taylor squeaked as she rubbed her nose. "What was that for?"

"Stop trying to talk yourself out of it," Lisa sighed as she sipped on her drink.

"I wasn't," Taylor defended, taking a sip of her own smoothie. "I just wanted a second opinion."

"Just give her a call already and say yes," Victoria chimed in.

"But what about?-"

"Just do it already," Lisa snapped playfully.

"Alright, alright," Taylor huffed, reaching for her phone.

Victoria and Lisa watched as Taylor tapped the screen of her phone a few times before bringing the device to her ear. Both eagerly awaited the response from the other side.

"He-hello?" Taylor asked out as her call went through. "Yes, this is Taylor... um, Taylor Hebert. From... Yes... Uhuh... Yes... Alright... Okay... Yes... Thanks... Goodbye." With another shaky huff, she ended the call. Both girlfriends were watching her with bated breath. Taylor tried to play it as straight-faced as she could but the smile broke through. "I... uh, start next week."

"Yaaaaaaaay!" Both Lisa and Victoria cheered, drawing some eyes from the surrounding tables. Both girls ignored the onlookers in favour of giving a congratulatory kiss each.

"Look out Brockton Bay!" Victoria cheered. "America's next top model is on the scene!"

---------------------------------------
The Undersider's Base - Tuesday

Bitch and Skitter spent a lot of their time running through practice drills with the mercenaries. A lot of the attack squads were formed specifically to take on specific classes of parahuman, with a strong emphasis on anti-Brute tactics.

Vicky didn't expect Bitch to have any concept of battle strategies, but the girl proved her wrong. She barked orders at the squad assigned to her like they were her dogs and the men jumped to her every word.

"Don't be a fucking idiot, you think bullets will do shit to someone like Hookwolf!?" Bitch yelled out as her dogs non-lethally tackled one of the men on the ground.

"Your job is to distract and stay out of our way," Bitch continued to yell. "Anyone trying to be a fucking hero is gonna get mauled."

Deimos hovered up next to Skitter as she watched the performance. The mercs were taking turns firing upon one of Bitch's muscled-up dogs and then diving to cover before getting pounced on. Judging by the setup, the drill was a simple capture the flag game, one dog was told to protect a briefcase in the middle of the room and the squad was trying to take it.

"Are they?..." Deimos asked in shock. "Shooting Bitch's dogs?"

"They needed practice against brutes," Skitter shrugged before turning to Deimos. "Actually, do you want to step in for the next drill?"

"How has she not killed every last one of them?" Deimos asked under her breath.

"Rubber bullets," Skitter said back. "And it was Bitch's idea anyway. Besides, so far the dogs have won eight out of ten times."

"Huh…" Deimos mused. "Wait what?"

"Rubber bullets," Skitter said again.

"Not that," Deimos shook her head. "What do you mean, step in?"

Skitter shrugged and then motioned towards the practice field. "Act as a brute and let a squad practice some anti-brute tactics on you. This is D squad, or as Bitch likes to call them. Dog squad."

Deimos turned to look at Skitter.

"Yeah, don't ask," Skitter continued. "But we still have C and E squads needing to be retrained."

"And what would I have to do?" Deimos sighed, forever wondering how she got into this position.

"Same as the dogs really," Skitter motioned to the rampaging beast. "Play keep away while the team comes up with a new tactic. No flying, focus on strength for this one."

"Sounds easy, I guess," Deimos said, pushing herself off the wall. "Which squad am I against? Coyote or what? Eagle Squad?"

Deimos laughed at her own joke while Skitter, as usual, stared back emotionlessly.

"Actually, C and E Squad is just called C and E Squad," Skitter said back. Deimos sighed at the lack of joy in that statement. "Although?" Skitter added, thinking to herself. "Imp did like to call them her Calamities?"

"Ha, so does every member of the Undersiders get a squad?" Deimos chuckled.

"No, Imp and Regent share a squad," Skitter said, shaking her head. "We're too thinly spread for individual squads. We only have squads A to E. Alpha and Bravo alternate between field and base patrol, under Tattletale and Grue specifically. Neither of them has thought up names for them if that's what you're wondering."

"That's a shame…" Deimos sighed. "So am I facing the 'Calamity Squad' then? I shake at whatever tactics Imp and Regent come up with together." She chuckled again, stressing her sarcasm to those words.

"Actually, you'll be good practice for my squad. Which I guess would be… The Entomology Squad?" Skitter mused with a snort of a chuckle. "I've developed a few anti-brute countermeasures I've been meaning to test."

Victoria could feel her blood run cold at that statement. She still climbed into the ring anyway, not willing to back down from a challenge, even if she was up against the brutal tactics of Skitter.

"It's just practice," Deimos muttered to herself. "Rubber bullets. Can't even break my forcefield. How hard could it be?"

Entomology Squad won nine out of ten rounds and Vicky found herself limping the following day.
----------------------------------------------------------

A Rooftop In Brockton Bay - Wednesday

"Ugh, Vicky, I can't believe you're making us—"

Victoria rounded on Lisa. She was smiling ever so sweetly, a sure sign of coming retribution. "I'm not making you do this. Either of you! You're free to leave at any time."

Taylor looked around the deserted rooftop. "Victoria, we really can't—"

"What's that, sweetheart? You've been put in an impossible position because someone else used powers and sweet talk on you? Gosh, that sounds awful!" Victoria smiled. "What could that be like?"

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Look, Vicky, Tori, Vixen, whatever you want me to call you—"

"You seem to like Deimos," Victoria said, as politely as a Southern belle blessing your heart. "But Victoria works too."

"Ugh, Victoria, you're overreacting. I admit, I completely admit, pulling you into the Undersiders as another member was shitty. But it wasn't a plan."

"Oh?" Victoria's gaze was laser-focused. "What makes you say that, dearest?"

"If I'd planned this, you'd be all in by now." Lisa grinned and flicked her hair. "I'm smart like that."

"She is," Taylor grumbled.

"Well, I'm so glad to know that my girlfriend's self-esteem is in such a good place, just like she is." Victoria's voice oozed sugar like a wound oozes blood. "Now then. I've got some new outfits for you both!"

"Wait, what?" Taylor looked confused. "You brought us up here to try on some clothes?"

Victoria just took a couple of dry-cleaning bags out of her backpack and tossed them to the girls. "Put them on."

Lisa blanched. "Hell no. Hell. No."

Victoria flew over. "Come on, sweetie. After all, I dressed up for you. Plus, that's the only way you're getting off this rooftop any time soon."

Taylor was numb. She stood there with the outfit in her hands as if it might explode. "Victoria, I, I'm not sure—"

"I'm not sure I want to moonlight as a villain, Taylor. In fact, I'm pretty sure I don't! But did I get a choice?"

Lisa scoffed. "You could have walked away at any time, Princess."

Victoria whirled around and loomed over Lisa. "You don't walk away from someone who loves you. So no. I didn't have a choice, and I still don't, because I love you both even though I am furious right now."

"Jeez, alright, calm down."

As with every other time someone told their girlfriend to calm down, this elicited a glare that could burn a hole through a wall. Lisa shuddered.

"Okay, lemme try again. I'm… I put you in an impossible position. I'm not sorry that I asked you for help. I'm sorry that I needed to draw you back into the Undersiders after. I don't mean in the sense that it needed to happen, I mean… I needed to do it. I need, I don't know, control over situations, I guess? And I took that control away from you, and that was shitty, and I'm sorry that I did."

Victoria touched down and smiled a real smile. "Thank you, Lisa. I forgive you."

"I'm… sorry too. For going along with it, and for not really thinking about what I was going along with." Taylor's voice was soft, but still clear on the roof. "I never meant to hurt you. I promise."

"I know you didn't, Taylor. It's okay. C'mere, both of you." The two moved in and Victoria hugged them tight.

After a minute, Lisa spoke. "So, now that we're forgiven—"

"Oh no, you don't get out of it that easy, green eyes. Come on, get changed. There's no cameras and nobody to see you, I change here a lot."

There was some mild grumbling from Lisa, but Taylor seemed resigned to her fate.

Victoria admired her handiwork. "Gotta say, you both rock the team aesthetic. Lisa, wow, you look so cute with the white bodysuit and the boots."

Lisa said nothing.

"The cape and the tiara work great on you, Taylor, and the gold goes so well with your hair. You're so pretty."

Taylor smiled but stayed silent.

Victoria clapped her hands. "Well. All that remains is to take you to the photoshoot!"

"The what?" Taylor's eyes widened.

"Not an official one, but I want a picture of the three of us."

"Why?"

"Blackmail," Lisa piped up.

Victoria smiled. "That too."

And so, they clustered together around Victoria, who took a bunch of selfies and saved them in a file. She sent the files to Lisa's phone, who took one look and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Victoria, I love you. But there's a line."

"Come on, it's just a bit of fun—"

"We are not," Taylor said, "the Glory Girlfriends."

--------------------------------------------------------

Undersider's Base - Thursday

"Uh, Tattletale?" Grue asked out, leaning into the door of her office.

Tattletale's desk was piled high with paper, her laptop, a stack of coffee cups and several piles of dossiers. The blonde girl was sitting at the desk tapping away at her keyboard.

"Yes?" She asked back without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Have you spoken to Faultline yet?"

Tattletale stopped typing away but didn't look off from her screen. She let out a long sigh. "Not yet…"

Grue nodded a few times, hesitant to continue the conversation. After a few long seconds, he added. "Are you?-"

"I'll get around to it," Tattletale spat back, typing even harder into her laptop.

"Alright," Grue said, namely to himself as he backed away from her office. "Good talk, gooood talk. Uh... Skitter?" He jogged up beside the bug-controller who was walking in the other direction, Skitter turned to look at Grue with her usual emotionless gaze. "I wanted to talk to you about the defensive measures you submitted the other day."

Skitter stopped her walk and gave Grue her full attention. "Yes? Was there a problem with them?"

"Not a problem per se," Grue said with a tone that implied there was a problem per se. "I asked for a couple of ideas for potential counterattacks the Empire could throw at us…"

"And?" Skitter asked blankly.

"You submitted one-hundred and thirty-seven proposed scenarios."

"And?" Skitter asked again, blankly.

Grue sighed. "And I don't think Kaiser is going to use a GBU-57A/B MOP Bunker buster to blow up our base."

"Well maybe not, but we should be prepared for the possibility."

"You also had plans to attempt to counteract the fallout of a nuclear explosion?" Grue added. Skitter didn't react to the accusation. "Look, just cut the list down to the twenty or so most likely scenarios and work from there. We need to keep a tight budget. I already have a hard time convincing Tattletale to justify half of the measures you're proposing."

"Fine," Skitter answered. "I'll send a shortened list tonight."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Undersider's Base - Friday

"No fucking way!" Aisha cheered.

Parian and Skitter had started today's meeting by handing out gifts. Specifically new costumes for the remaining members of the team. Imp, Grue, Regent and Bitch were all given freshly woven spider silk duds.

Grue was given a black bodysuit that would go under his regular costume, overall, he had the least amount of changes which was exactly how he wanted it.

Regent's costume stuck to his theme, however the loose shirt and baggy pants were now more form-fitting, to accommodate the extra layers of protection. His mask was also studier, Parian had used it to experiment with using insect parts to strengthen her clothing.

Bitch had handed in her jacket the previous day, not wishing to replace it. It had been delicately modified and reinforced with the same spider silk that the rest of her clothes were now made from. In addition, Skitter had given her a new mask, one that resembled the look of her modified dogs rather than a simple cheap dog mask. For once, Bitch kept her mask on for the entire meeting. But the detail that she took the most interest in was the patch Parian had sewed into the arm of the jacket, Imp's drawing of Bitch's three dogs displayed proudly on her arm.

"Check this out!" Imp said, jumping up onto the table with her updated costume. "Engaging stealth mode!"

Everybody turned their attention back to Bitch, who continued to run her fingers over the patch on her jacket.

"It feels... better?" Bitch muttered to herself before looking up to Skitter. "How did you?-"

"Parian," Skitter said, nodding to the costume creator. "I could never modify the jacket so finely without destroying it. She did the bulk of the work, I just supplied the material."

Bitch nodded her head in thanks toward Parian, who curtsied back in kind. Imp reappeared, still standing on the table.

"Okay, that would've been so cool if any of you could've remembered it."

Everyone turned their attention back to Imp.

"I'm sorry?" Tattletale blinked. "Were you saying something?"

"I said..." Imp sighed as she prepared another action pose. "Engaging stealth mode!"

This time, Imp didn't activate her power, instead, she tugged on the back of her new suit as her much-requested hood folded out and over her head. Giving the already dark outfit a covert look. She then spent the next few seconds flicking the hood on and off. Regent clapped politely while Tattletale joined in with the mock cheering.

"Very nice," Grue said, giving a golf clap of his own.

---------------------------------
Dallon Household - One week Post Graduation

All in all, Victoria was pretty proud of herself. She spent an entire week with the Undersiders and didn't once do anything that she would consider villainous. Sure, she threw some mercs around while they trained to start a gang war, and she discovered the identities of every major cape in the Empire but Vicky couldn't find herself feeling guilty about it.

She still wished that she could actually be a hero, join her family on patrol or do some good for the community. By this point, she would've even accepted the restrictive patrols of the Wards if it meant she could help the people of Brockton Bay in some small way.

While Victoria enjoyed spending time with Taylor and Lisa, she didn't really view the other Undersiders as anything more than co-workers. At least when Vicky worked with the Wards she was actually friends with the team. Half of them were her closest friends outside of the cape life and they would often hang out during their downtime.

But the Undersiders were... not like the Wards. They had their own group dynamic and Victoria wasn't part of it. She was the odd one out, the 'temporary member'.

Did she even want to hang out with the Undersiders outside of work?

Vicky certainly has no desire to spend time with the likes of Bitch or Regent, the former being an all-round grumpy bitch and the latter creeping the hell out of her. Imp seemed sociable enough, but Victoria couldn't imagine inviting the girl out for lunch or the like. Parian was still an outsider, like her, which made Vicky far more comfortable to talk to however she only came in for two out of the seven days.

And then there was Grue, who admittedly was a far more level-headed and polite man than Vicky had initially assumed based on her first meeting. However, the villain had a clear disinterest in revealing anything about his personal life, treating Vicky like she was still going to turn around and use everything she knew as a secret weapon against his team. There was no doubt he was only putting up with Deimos because of Tattletale and Skitter.

So no, Victoria didn't want or expect to make friends with her 'teammates' and it was probably for the best if they continued to keep the boundaries between themselves.

Just as Victoria prepared herself to spend yet another day in that damn underground base, her phone buzzed in with a text message from Lisa.

Gd mrning, sunshine <3
we hve not much wrk 2 do 2day
i no u getting stir crazi @ base
tke day off. go b hero
ily

Quickly followed up by a second, more legible, text from Taylor.

Hello Victoria, I hope the morning finds you well.
I apologise for monopolising your time with work.
Lisa and I have a few more things to do at the office but feel comfortable that we can achieve our quotas on our own, so feel free to take this day off to do as you please.
If you are interested, we shall be free later in the afternoon, but until then please use this day to relax or see to any personal business you may have. If New Wave is still worried about me, tell them I am working in the Fortress Construction main office, its location in the middle of downtown should allay their concerns.
Sorry again for the imposition,
With love, Taylor.

Victoria smiled at the messages, her girlfriends were giving her and Undersiders a free day without her even needing to bring up the subject. She sent back a quick response of thanks and well wishes before floating off to find her family. She wasn't sure if her mom would buy Taylor's excuse that she wouldn't need protection simply because she was 'working in the heart of the city.' In the end, she didn't get a chance to try as she quickly found out that her Mother was called in early to her work.

The quick note on the fridge explained that much, along with some money on the table for pizza left to imply that she wouldn't be home till late. Added to that, the untouched state of the house implied that Vicky's father hadn't come out of his room and Victoria already knew what that implied. With the hope of any Flashbang and Glory Girl family patrol happening, Vicky fell back on her third option of seeing what her sister was up to.

The answer was, apparently, also busy. Amy rushed out of her room, dressed and ready for the day.
"Hey, Ames," Vicky waved with a smile as Amy jogged down the stairs. "Want to hang out today? It's been a while since we both-"

"Hey Vicky, sorry. I'm late for work, love ya, bye!" Amy said in one long breath as she flew past the living room.

"Wait, you're going out?" Vicky asked as she followed her sister to the door. "I thought you reduced your hospital hours?"

Amy was in the middle of sliding her shoes on, her back facing Vicky as she spoke. "Yeah, I did. Other job. The one with the dogs."

"Need me to give you a lift?" Vicky asked, wanting to feel useful.

Amy perked up from her rushed dressing. "Could you? Otherwise, I gotta run to catch the bus."
"Sure thing," Vicky said, picking her sister up the second her shoes were on. "Where we going again?"

"Near the Trainyard," Amy pointed in the vague direction. "Same place you picked me up that one time."

The sisters took to the air, enjoying the brisk morning winds as they flew over the streets of Brockton Bay. Amy had been doing a lot better this past couple of weeks, at least Vicky had hoped so. Vicky had made sure to check in on her sister more often. And while she had cut down her hours at the hospital, her 'other job' was apparently picking up the slack.

"I know, I know," Amy chuckled, seeing the concerned frown forming on Vicky's face. "You told me to relax and take a break, but this is good. This is fun. I'm helping out animals and I've met some interesting people. I'll be fine, Vicky. It's not like I'm joining a gang and anyt-"

"A gang? Who's joining a gang? I haven't joined a gang!" Victoria blurted out, drawing a suspicious look from her sister. "Uh, I mean. I know that. I just worry... about you."

"I'm fine, Vicky," Amy said with a tired huff. "Honestly, I want to do this. It's not like the hospital where I feel obligated to stick around. This is a hobby, something to keep me occupied when I'm not healing or helping out the family."

"You're sure you're okay with it?" Vicky asked, giving Amy a quick squeeze.

"I'm fine," Amy repeated, giving her sister a quick hug back. "I promise."

"Alright then, just making sure," Vicky smiled, giving her sister one last squeeze. "But, we're long overdue for some quality time together, so remember to save some time in your busy schedule for me. Got it, sis?"

"Hah, you're one to talk," Amy huffed again. "You've barely been home all week."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Victoria said.

"No, I get it," Amy waved her off. "Gotta protect your girlfriends from the Empire." Amy thought to herself for a moment. "Actually, shouldn't you be doing that now? Why are you out flying me around, don't you got hero work or something?"

"Eh, they're fine," Vicky dismissed. "Taylor and Lisa are working in the city. They've... given me the day off?"

Amy didn't question how stupid it sounded to dismiss the threat of the Empire just because Vicky's girlfriends were working in the city. She trusted Victoria to know what she was doing which made the tiny, white lie all the more painful.

Victoria wished she could explain to Amy just how crazy her life had become, but that would mean explaining that she had been lying to her all this time. That she wasn't actually the innocent, upstanding hero the world believed her to be. That her girlfriends were actually two supervillains and that Victoria had wilfully joined them in their gang activities this week.

But that would mean revealing Taylor and Lisa's secrets, putting them at risk. She had no real way of knowing how Amy would react, Skitter had held the girl at knifepoint, and there was a very real possibility that Amy held a grudge and wouldn't hesitate to do the heroic thing and turn Taylor in. The fear for her girlfriends' safety outweighed her guilt of lying, so Victoria didn't speak any more on the subject and Amy didn't ask.

------------------------------------------------------------
Brockton Bay Streets – A Few Hours Later

Today had turned out to be a terrible day to be given off, simply because Victoria had nothing to do. With her mother busy with her law firm and her father holed up in his room, Vicky couldn't join them for an impromptu hero patrol. Crystal still had university classes to attend and couldn't spend time with her. Eric hadn't returned her message, so she could only assume he was preoccupied too.

Victoria supposed she could've gone to Aunt Sarah directly to request some official New Wave work but her Aunt was a stickler for the rules and wouldn't accept Lisa and Taylor's dismissal of their protection. She'd have probably forced Vicky back into watching over Taylor. The PRT was much the same, there was no way for Glory Girl to just waltz on in and ask to work the day without a mountain of paperwork and several phone calls to her mother.

After dropping Amy off and returning home to change into her costume, Glory Girl spent three hours aimlessly patrolling the city, like some common vigilante. She was smart enough to know her limits when it came to solo patrol, she didn't stray too far from the Protectorate HQ and she made sure to keep out of known gang territory and anywhere she could easily find herself outnumbered. This meant that Vicky ended up spending the bulk of her morning floating above quiet neighbourhoods of Downtown.

Victoria got bored pretty quickly. When she patrolled with New Wave or the Wards, she at least had a team to banter with while they kept an eye out for trouble. With no team and no PRT support to inform her of nearby trouble, the only hero work Glory Girl did was pose for a handful of pictures and help an old man with directions.

As the morning faded into the afternoon, Glory Girl finally gave up her fruitless patrol, choosing instead to find something fun for Victoria to do. She changed back into plain clothes and entered the mall, knowing that she still had a few hours to kill before Lisa and Taylor were free for a date.

The Undersiders had paid her for her time with them, much to Vicky's surprise. The villain group had offered her a weekly stipend and despite her protesting, Lisa had forced a new bank card into Vicky's hand the day she and Parian officially joined the team. So far, Victoria hadn't spent a cent of her ill-gotten gains, knowing exactly where the money came from. Her plan was to eventually give it all to a charity once she was finished with her work, an anonymous donation to make up for all the trouble she caused in planning a gang war with the Empire.

That was the plan at least. But as Vicky browsed through the storefronts of the mall, the idea of spending some of the money became more and more tempting. Victoria was a hero, not a saint. And in a way, supporting local businesses was a form of charity, wasn't it?

A few hundred dollars later, Victoria had a handful of new outfits and some nice shoes. Her next stop was to get some food, where she would support the community some more by supporting one of the local eateries. Fugly Bob's to be exact. She'd drop in, grab a burger, give a generous tip, and then maybe check in with her girlfriends to see if they were free for a date.

They hadn't done anything together, non-work related, since the Glory Girlfriends fiasco, and Vicky was itching to see them. She wasn't surprised by how much she missed them, but more so by how many times she caught herself wishing that she did come into 'the office' just to see them. However, Victoria chalked that up to an uneventful day of heroing rather than missing her villainous side job.

Victoria touched down across the street from Fugly Bobs and entered the building without much fanfare. She ordered her meal to go and was preparing to take off shortly after getting her food when she heard a familiar chuckle.

Lisa's chuckle.

Around the corner, sitting in the outdoor section of the restaurant, Vicky almost didn't notice her. She was sitting with a group of people, friends of hers? Victoria didn't actually know who Lisa hung out with outside of her cape life. Fortunately, Vicky wasn't the type of person to shy away from strangers. With a grin, Victoria headed to join the table.

As she got closer, Victoria recognised the back of Taylor's head. Both girls were having lunch here. It wasn't completely unexpected as lunch was the only excuse that got those two out of the base, however, the coincidence of walking into the same Fugly Bob's as them was a pleasant surprise.

Taylor, as expected, noticed Victoria's approach first. Turning in her chair with a soft smile to welcome her. Lisa's eyes lit up with a warm smile of her own once she caught on to what Taylor was staring at.

They weren't alone and Victoria didn't recognise anyone that the girls were sitting with. Her first thought was that the girls had been roped into some fan interactions with the public, they were minor celebrities in the eyes of local Brocktonites. However, Taylor looked far too comfortable to be sitting at a table with complete strangers.

The strangers in question were all kids around the same age as Vicky. There were three of them, two of whom were younger than Taylor by Victoria's best guess. A boy who looked far too pretty for his own good laughed alongside a girl who matched the same description but also had a streak of purple in her hair. They both continued to laugh at whatever joke they were telling as Victoria approached.

"Well damn, lookie who it is!" The boy cackled, looking over to Victoria. The girl he was giggling with spotted Victoria approaching and waves at her in a way that seemed all too familiar.

"Um, Hi," Victoria said as she reached the table. "Sorry, I just saw-," She gestured towards Taylor and Lisa who both stand to embrace her with a hug before offering a chair. "Figured I'd come to say hello."

"We were just about to message you," Lisa said, waving her phone in her hand before putting it away. "Got off work early for the day."

"That's great," Vicky smiled back and looked over to the three other people on the table. "So, Lisa. Who are your friends? I'm Victoria by the way, nice to meet you."

Vicky leaned over the table to extend a hand to the boy. Everyone at the table looked at her hand with amusement.

"Oh my god, she doesn't know." The girl whispered, not so quietly, into the group.

"Doesn't know?" Victoria asked, feeling like the butt of a joke.

She looked around the table, as the boy and girl both looked to be on the verge of laughing again. Lisa had her 'trying not to laugh at you' smile slapped on her face, and even Taylor had an eyebrow raised at Vicky like she was missing something obvious. But it was the third stranger, the handsome older boy who looked to be the girl's older brother and who was currently attempting to hide his face behind his jacket, that made Vicky realise who these people were.

"Yeah…" The boy, Regent, said in his sarcastic tone that Vicky had heard a lot over this week. "I know who you are, Gloom Girl."

"O-oh… you're…" Vicky said hesitantly as Regent leaned forward to shake her hand. "That should've been obvious in hindsight. Welp, I'm just gonna pretend I never-"

"Bah, take a seat, Vicky," Lisa said, tugging on her arm. "We're all friends here."

"Are we though?" Victoria and the boy who was most certainly Grue said at the same time.

"Comrades at least!" Imp cheered, raising her cup at Victoria.

Hesitantly, Vicky took a seat next to Lisa, placing her paper bag full of food on the table. Her plan to leave was dashed as Lisa and Taylor wrapped an arm around her respectively, holding her close.

"So should I call you?-" Victoria started, unsure what to do in this situation.

"Aisha!" Imp, now Aisha, said cheerily as her free hand extended to meet Vicky's. "That's Alec," She nodded toward the boy, who waved back lazily while stealing one of Aisha's chips. "And this shy, grumpy lug is-"

"Brian," The boy formally known as Grue grunted out with a sigh.

"Brian?" Victoria chuckled back. She tried to muffle down her incoming giggle with food but it was too late. Brian raised an eyebrow at her sudden outburst of laughter "Sorry, I just... I never would've guessed Brian... The only Brian I know is... uh, never mind."

Victoria thought back to a vague childhood memory of a somewhat lanky boy called Brian who once tried to kiss Victoria back in the third grade. Vicky had promptly kicked him in the shins and caused the boy to cry.

Lisa, ever the mind reader, broke into a fit of giggles. Everyone looked to her to explain what was so funny but Victoria's warning glare prevented Lisa from spilling her secret.

"Anyway…" Victoria said, hoping to move away from the awkward subject. "Aren't you missing a member? I mean, I get why Parian isn't with you but where's Bitch?"

Alex snorted out a laugh. "Oh, the day we get Rachie to come to Fugly Bob's is the day-"

"-She gets arrested," Brian finished for him, he turned to Victoria to explain. "Kinda hard to keep a low profile when the PRT know who you are. Shouldn't you know that? Being a hero and all?"

"Oh, right," Victoria nodded. "Honestly, do you have any idea how many random faces are on wanted lists? The only photo New Wave have of Bitch without a mask is some gas station from like, a year ago? It's not like the capes regularly study the Undersider's file. You're not that high priority."

"Rude," Lisa gasped.

"We really need to try harder then," Alec muttered.

"You? Try harder?" Aisha laughed back. "Who are you and what have you done with Alec?"

"It's better this way," Taylor mused. "Have the heroes treat us like less of a threat gets them off our back and focused on the actual villains. We could actually use this to-"

"Skitter, stop being in work mode for once, and just enjoy lunch with your girlfriends, please," Aisha said, pointing a finger at Taylor. "For the sake of our sanity and this entire table."

"I am enjoying my lunch," Taylor grumbled into her food.

Aisha laughed as Lisa and Alec joined in. Victoria relaxed a bit more and dug into her own burger as the Undersiders fell into an easy conversation. Somehow, meeting the Undersiders in plain clothes wasn't as terrible as she imagined. She wasn't sure what she expected to happen if she ever met them unmasked, a part of Vicky just assumed that it would turn out horribly and the universe would conspire to screw her over.

She felt her initial panic from finding out the truth begin to subside, replaced with a more pleasant sensation. Sitting at a table with friends, or people who could one day become friends, was a refreshing change of pace after the full week of work. Vicky let herself get lost in the conversation. Laughing at the group's jokes and even joining in with her own anecdotes and stories, she was genuinely having fun.

Today was weird. A fun kind of weird, but still weird. And just when Vicky thought that this day could not get any weirder. She heard another familiar voice call out.

"Oh hey, Brian. Is that you? What's up, man?"

Everyone at the table paused to look at the source of the voice. Victoria looked to Taylor to confirm what she was hearing, the girl was blinking back in surprise, just as much as Victoria was.

"Oh, hey Dean," Brian said, turning in his chair to greet the new arrival. "Good to see you, man."

"Dean?" Taylor asked first, turning to look at the boy.

"Taylor?" Dean said back with just as much surprise in his voice.

"Taylor?" Brian asked, also surprised by this revelation.

"Dean!" Victoria cried out in a panic, leaping to her feet.

"Vicky?!" Dean matched with the same energy.

"Taylor?" Another equally shocked voice asked out behind Dean.

"Dennis?" Taylor asked back, looking behind Dean.

"Vicky!" Dennis added with a cheery smile.

"Taylor?" Yet another boy asked out, to Vicky's horror. "Oh, and Vicky!"

"Carlos." Taylor waved awkwardly, nodding at the boy.

"Aisha!" Aisha added, startling everyone. She quietened down into her seat again. "Sorry, I just saw you all having a moment and wanted to join in."

There was an awkward silence amongst the group, save for Lisa who was struggling not to laugh at the whole situation. Alec leaned over to Lisa and whispered obnoxiously loud. Saying the exact thing Victoria, and probably everyone at that table, was thinking at that very moment.

"What the fuck is going on?"

 

[Radek]

This is likely to get somewhat awkward. Or maybe not -maybe things will work out fine.

Hah! Who am I kidding?

 

[Dradel]

Aisha!

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

"Rahcel!" Says Amy with excitement

"Amy." Replied Rachel gruffly

"Amy!" Says Victoria in a panic

"Victoria!" Says Amy in a near identical way

"Holy shit this is the best day of my life" mutters Lisa with a wide grin

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[doomlord9]

Truly. Being Taylor 'Two-Hands' Hebert was nothing but suffering.

Click to shrink...

With the newest chapter, there is potential for a sequel here.

I'm imagining Taylor's model persona she compartmentalizes herself into will end up as a bizarre mix of Skitter's confidence with Taylor's quiet shy wallflower.

When Lisa and Vicky get out the lingerie again for a repeat, they knock Taylor right into her newest persona, but she doesn't need to be shy with her girlfriends.

Lisa and Vicky quickly discover they share the same weakness. That being a confident and somewhat aggressive Taylor.

Taylor ends up in between them again in her silky black model dress, one arm around each of their waists and turning the table kissing them senseless in turn, projecting the image of a Dark Queen slaking her desires on the angel and devil she has conquered.

Neither of the two can find a reason to complain, and are scheming to figure out the trigger to push Taylor into this mindset more often.

 

[Crazael]

oh man, that ending was hilarious...

 

[The_Motarp]

"Rahcel!" Says Amy with excitement

"Amy." Replied Rachel gruffly

"Amy!" Says Victoria in a panic

"Victoria!" Says Amy in a near identical way

"Holy shit this is the best day of my life" mutters Lisa with a wide grin

Thanks for the chapter!

Click to shrink...

Hey, considering Amy's power it is entirely possible for her and Rachel to show up with Rachel wearing a face that the PRT wouldn't recognize. Then some of the younger Empire capes in civvies can sit down at the next table for maximum hilarity.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: The chapter got a lot more Amy/Rachel focused than when I started writing.

---

Brockton Bay Dog Shelter – Morning

After getting dropped off near the bus stop, Amy walked the rest of the way to the shelter. It wasn't too far, but still a noticeable distance.

She still wasn't sure if anyone there knew who she was and didn't want to be flown directly in by her sister. The shelter was hers, a special place where Amy could separate herself from the rest of her busy life. No hospital work, no Carol looking over her shoulder, no New Wave cape nonsense to deal with. Just dogs, needing someone to take care of them.

A smile formed on her face as the building came into view. A far cry from her gut reaction to seeing the hospital on other days of the week. Amy's mind was already making a list of the dogs she was taking care of today, Charlie and Milo, two ex-pit fighting dogs that had gotten into a small scrap during feeding the day before last and Amy was itching to check on them specifically.

Walking into the lobby, she noticed Cassie playing with an unfamiliar puppy. Amy knew every dog in the shelter by name and a puppy was not on their list. A new arrival, perhaps? But from where? None of the dogs were pregnant, and picking up just one puppy felt weird.

Cassie was giggling like the excited girl she was, watching as the puppy tried jumping up on her before she launched back into a spree of tickles and pats. For once, Amy stopped in the lobby instead of beelining it to the changing rooms, as she knelt to inspect the latest addition to the shelter.

"Hello? Who's this?" Amy asked as she extended a hand to the pup. He shied back at first, a bit nervous, but taking his cues from Cassie, carefully moved his head back towards her hand.

"This is Reggie," Cassie said in babytalk, "Reggie is a cute boy, isn't he? Yes, he is. Yes, he is."

"Reggie," Amy echoed, committing the name to memory. The puppy looked over to Amy, inspecting her hand before gently brushing his head into Amy's palm. "Hello, Reggie," Amy added with a smile, avoiding the baby talk approach, unlike Cassie.

The puppy was only two or so months old by her power's estimation. However, it looked slightly too small for his age. Reading his bio-history, Amy determined that the puppy had been born slightly premature but overall was now healthy and happy, which made Amy sigh in relief she didn't realise she even held.

"Last time I saw this little guy, he was this big," Cassie explained, gesturing the size of a tiny, newborn. "His Momma didn't make it. Some sick bastard probably dropped their dog in the street once she got pregnant. She was in a very bad shape when we found her, most of the litter didn't make it either. It was a sad day for all of us here," She added with a sad quiver in her lip. "Rachie slept here, by his side until the docs determined that he'd make it through. Then a few weeks after that, she sent him off somewhere… Didn't even have a name yet."

Amy didn't know how to respond to that. Hearing more of Rachel's lore from the mouth of Cassie only added to the girl's mysterious legend. A legend that Amy wished more and more she could find out about herself.

It had been over a week since Rachel and Amy last spoke. Their last meeting ended with a kiss. Amy still didn't know what the kiss meant. True to her word, Rachel hadn't dropped by the shelter since, nor had she ever sent a message to explain what she was doing. Amy had her phone number, but the idea of calling her felt so impersonal for what she needed to discuss.

The kiss had come out of nowhere. At least, that's how she felt when it first happened. Amy had since played that day over and over in her head, picking up on all the previous misunderstandings and signs that implied Rachel's true intentions that day.

Her feelings for the kiss were complicated. She didn't hate it, Amy knew that much at least. Kissing Rachel had been… well, it had been her first kiss. She really didn't have much to compare it to, beyond her imagination. Out of all the people in Brockton Bay, Rachel wasn't the worst person to be kissed by. She was no Vicky, that much was obvious. And her sudden kiss didn't suddenly undo years of pining for her blonde angel.

But, Vicky was an ideal, not reality. As much as Amy wished she could snap her fingers and have the girl of her dreams love her back, she knew that would never happen. Rachel was real. Someone who objectively proved she liked Amy in that way. Maybe, Amy should give up on her fantasy of the impossible?

And then what? Settle for Rachel because she's the first person besides Vicky to ever give a shit about her? That didn't sit right with Amy. Yet, at the same time, life was short, wouldn't it make more sense to take what chance she had at happiness?

She didn't know what to do and didn't know who to talk to about it. She couldn't tell her sister about it, because that would open Amy to questions about who the 'other' girl was. She certainly couldn't go to her parents. Dad might've had a nugget of fatherly wisdom on a good day, but those were few and far between and the idea of coming out to Carol… No, Amy had no one she could solicit advice from.

So, Amy did what she always did. Bottled up her feelings and put them to work. Between the hospital and the shelter, Amy had enough on her hands that she didn't need to worry about her conflicting and confusing feelings. Not that her habit was as self-destructive as it used to be. Dogs had a way of making her feel better, regardless of the work being done.

Cassie stood up from the floor, breaking away from the puppy to return to her desk. The dog was content to play with Amy, chewing on her pant leg as she stood up. A sudden thought hit Amy. This dog, Reggie, was taken from the shelter by Rachel, and now had returned. That implied that Rachel returned him, meaning that Rachel was…

"Cassie!" Rachel barked from the hallway.

"Yes?~" Cassie sang out, in her usual cheery way.

"What the fuck happened to Charlie while I was gone? Has he been biting Milo again?"

Amy felt her heart flutter at the sound of this woman yelling. It was stupid, just hearing Rachel's voice made her body anticipate… something? But what?

"I'm afraid so," Cassie sighed. She was already sitting at her receptionist's desk, writing down notes on some paper. "But Amy here got on them quick. Didn't even need to get security to help this time." She winked at Amy, nodding her compliment forward.

Rachel walked out into the lobby and her eyes met Amy's. Both girls looked surprised to see each other, various shades of pink forming on their respective faces.

Rachel looked different. Taller maybe? Or maybe it was all in Amy's head, it had only been a week. All of Amy's questions and concerns fled from her mind the second she locked eyes on the muscular girl. All Amy could think of was that kiss. That sudden, unexpected and far too short kiss. Getting pulled in and held in Rachel's comforting arms, the overly romantic atmosphere of the park seemed ripped out of one of Amy's shitty romance novels she'd read during her downtime at the hospital.

But Amy wasn't going to get distracted with all that. She needed to talk to Rachel and explain her mixed feelings. How Rachel had obviously misread her text as some confession of attraction and how Amy didn't not feel that way about her but hadn't considered it and maybe, possibly needed a moment or two to deconstruct how she felt before they took this 'relationship' anywhere.

She didn't want to outright reject Rachel but explained that Amy had a lot of shit going on in her life and that she wasn't the most… stable girl to start a relationship with. Let alone the fact that Rachel still didn't seem to know who Amy was, and the clusterfuck she'd be stepping into by dating a member of New Wave, especially after Vicky's public throuple.

It was just too much. The smart thing to do would be to pull Rachel aside, talk to her alone and explain clearly all the things that were going through her mind. Rachel liked directness. That was the conversation that got her into this mess, she would be direct with her concerns, give Rachel the respect she deserved and talk about this like adults-

It was during this thought that Amy realised that Rachel's tongue was resting rather comfortably in Amy's mouth. The pair wrapped around each other, making out like drunken teens at a drive-in movie.

Amy broke the kiss slowly, feeling Rachel's grip weaken and allowing her to step back. She had no idea what the hell just happened. That was an exaggeration, she knew exactly what happened. She'd moved to welcome Rachel with a hug, which led to a kiss, which led to… that.

No words, no discussion about feelings. Just dropping all pretence of civility and diving into each other's arms. It was direct, messy, and cut through all the bullshit. Just like Rachel. Answering the question of her feelings without uttering a single bloody word. Somehow, it just worked better than any words or minor gestures of comfort.

Rachel smiled. A rare sight that caused Amy's heart to flutter yet again. The taller girl wrapped her arm around Amy, feeling far more confident than the surprised girl who just walked in.

"Hey," Rachel said with a smirk.

Amy didn't know that Rachel could smirk, yet here it was, and it made her feel something crazy in her knees.

"Hey," Amy said back, giving the exact same casual response.

Amy was no stranger to acting cool and calm in stressful situations. Inside, her heart might be doing backflips but she'd be damned if she let this woman walk all over her in whatever this thing was.

They stared at each other, wordlessly for an indeterminate amount of time. The illusion only broken by the feel of the puppy tugging on Amy's shoelaces.

"I should… check in on Charlie, and Milo…" Amy said, more to herself than anyone. Willing herself to look away from Rachel's piercing eyes.

Rachel's eyes flicked down to Amy's lips again. For a moment, Amy was worried, or hoping, that the girl would move in for another kiss. But Rachel's arm slid away from Amy's shoulder, allowing her to move out of the lobby and off to work.

Across the room, unaware to Amy and Rachel, Cassie sat at her desk, A stiff statue of the girl, polite smile plastered on her face as she looked off into the distance. She didn't move, didn't say a word. The girl practically blended into the scenery of the reception lobby as the pair walked off. The only sound that came from her was a rattling that no one in the room picked up on,

The sound of a pencil that snapped in her hand and fell to the floor.

-----------------------------------------
Fugly Bobs – Midday

"What the fuck is going on?"

Alec's question echoed around the awkward and stunned colliding groups. Victoria found herself caught in the middle of the collision, her two worlds coming dangerously close to each other and nothing she could do or say would smoothly push them away from each other.

Dean knew Grue? Brian knew Gallant? Did they know who each other were? How did they know who each other was? How long had this been going on for? So many questions were spinning around in her head and no answer would make her feel any more at ease.

"It's simple, my dear Alec," Lisa said, speaking up over everyone's confused looks. "It appears that Brian has made friends with a seemingly unsuspecting yet connected individual here. Judging by his muscular features for his age and Brian's macho homo-erotic respect for him, I'd wager they met at the gym he frequents during the week."

"What?" Brian said back with a raised eyebrow.

Lisa held up a hand to shush him in a melodramatic fashion and continued with her evaluation. "But little did he know, Brian had unwittingly made friends with the very man who used to date our beloved Victoria. I suspect that poor ole Deany boy here was looking for a distraction to mend his broken heart when he met Brain at that gym, and now Brian has led him into an ambush of emotional turmoil."

"And these other guys?" Alec asked, pointing towards Dean's entourage.

"Ehh, friends of his. Went to the same school as Vicky and Tay," Lisa waved her answer away. "That, or everyone's having a shared hallucinogenic stroke. What kind of herbs does Fuglys use again?"

"I still don't get what's going on..." Alec grumbled.

One of the boys behind Dean snickered at Lisa's deduction but quickly straightened up in support of Dean himself.

Dean took a moment to compose himself and then looked back to Brian, a small, forced smile on his face. "Uh… Hi. This got unexpectedly awkward."

"Yeah," Brian nodded with a forced smile of his own, unsure of what to add to lessen the awkwardness of the meeting.

Dean looked between Brian and Vicky, unsure of who to speak to. With Victoria physically closer, he chose the latter to ask, "I guess the obvious question would be, how do you know Brian?"

Victoria was still recovering from the immediate revelation, her brain hadn't quite yet caught up with her mouth, so her response came as a surprise to even herself when she said, "Work."

Dean, Dennis and Carlos all gave Vicky a questioning look, knowing full well what Victoria's job was and what that implied. It could be as vague as someone Glory Girl met during her patrols to as complex as outing a previously unknown parahuman.

"Taylor's work!" Vicky yelled out once she realised the error she had made. "He's Taylor's bo-buh workmate. And Lisa's. They work… together. Without me. Because I'm Glory Girl."

Lisa let out a long and low whistle, shaking her head at how terrible Victoria truly was at the whole secret identity thing. She stood from her seat and leaned past Vicky to offer her hand to Dean and his friends.

"Heya, I'm Lisa, Vicky's other girlfriend," Lisa said with her charming smile. "Taylor and I work with Brian at Fortress Constructions. Pleasure to meet you."

Dean shook her hand, polite and civil like he would for any citizen he met. Dennis and Carlos were a lot more enthusiastic about meeting Victoria's second girlfriend.

"So, the infamous Lisa Wilbourn," Dennis chuckled. "I'm a fan of your work."

"Oh?" Lisa asked, looking to Victoria briefly for clarification. "And what work would that be?"

"Do you have any idea how many times I've seen Vicky get a text, open it up, roll her eyes and says, dammit Lisa?" Dennis said with a smile. "I don't know what memes you're sending her but keep it up."

"What can I say? Annoying Vicky is my love language," Lisa chuckled back.

"And a healthy relationship needs lots of love," Dennis said back with a mischievous wink.

Victoria rolled her eyes and sighed. Of course, Dennis and Lisa would bond over her misfortune.

"Hey, call me Carlos, pleasure to meet you," Carlos said, offering his hand next. "It's nice to put a face to the name. I mean… I've seen your photoshoot but, y'know. Anyway, heard a lot of good things about you."

"And here I expected Vicky to only say bad things about me," Lisa chuckled, accepting the hand.

"Oh no," Carlos chuckled back. "Victoria calls you an infuriating, smug and a few other choice words I shouldn't repeat here," Lisa laughed at the implication. "But Taylor always seems to sing your praises whenever she talks about you. Just the other day she called you… what was it?" He turned to Taylor and clicked his fingers, jogging his memory, "Ah yes, Brilliant beyond belief."

Taylor shrank down in her chair, shrinking away into her usual emotionless state. A light shade of red formed on her face.

Victoria turned to Taylor, looking somewhat bewildered. "When did you tell him that?"

Taylor shrugged before answering, "We text. Sometimes."

"In any case," Carlos said, turning back to Lisa. "I've been interested in getting to know the other lady in Victoria's life."

"Well then," Lisa smiled back, ignoring Victoria's horrified eyes begging her to shut up. "By all means, grab a seat."

Lisa pushed Alec away and offered his seat to Carlos. Brian sighed with another awkward smile and offered a nearby chair to Dean. Alec walked back around to his original seat, stealing a spare for Dennis to sit between Aisha and Taylor. Before Victoria could come up with a single excuse, her two social circles had merged into one large bubble.

"Sorry, who are you two?" Dennis asked with a smile as he sat down.

"That's Aisha, my sister," Brian introduced on her behalf. "And that's…" He paused, no doubt considering how best to introduce everyone. While Brian and Lisa could get away with full-time work as a cover story, the two youngest members might raise suspicion at being just 'coworkers,' eventually, Brian settled on a more reasonable, albeit more painful explanation. "Alec. My sister's… boyfriend."

Aisha chuckled at the introduction, amused at how her brother squirmed his way through that statement. She shook Dennis's hand with a friendly smile. Alec, for his part, smirked briefly before avoiding Brian's glare.

"Ah, the dreaded sister's boyfriend," Dennis chuckled, giving Alec a nod. "I have some experience with those, myself."

"You don't have a sister?" Carlos scoffed back.

"True," Dennis said with a shrug. "But remember that boy who had a crush on Missy?"

"Oh, don't remind me," Carlos groaned.

"Anyway," Vicky cut in, not wanting anyone to unwittingly name more Wards in the presence of the Undersiders. "This... is a surprise."

"Gym buddies with Vicky's ex," Alec chuckled, turning to Brian. "Small world."

"Apparently so," Brian muttered back, he strained a polite smile on his face but it softened upon looking back to Dean.

"You're telling me," Dean huffed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just came over to say hey, I wasn't planning on..." He waved his hand out in the direction of the table.

"No worries," Brian reassured, though his awkward tone made it sound less than reassuring. "So, uh... all these training sessions and you never mentioned that you dated a celebrity? Most guys would usually brag about that."

"Uh, yeah," Dean chuckled. "Must've slipped my mind."

Victoria could feel the panic rising in her stomach, it was public knowledge that Glory Girl and Gallant used to be a thing. Never officially, but the internet picked up on how the superhero pair always used to flirt. Only by the combined effort of the PRT and New Wave media team had the details been kept out of the public's view. It was an unspoken truth that everyone at school was aware of and the very last topic Victoria wanted Brian to put together.

"I'm surprised to see you three out today," Victoria said to Carlos, her forced smile silently asking why they weren't at 'work.'

"Hah, I know right?" Dennis answered in his stead. "When was the last time all three of us had a break?"

"Yeah. Well, I got a shift in an hour," Carlos sighed, looking at his watch. "Just enough time for lunch."

Aisha giggled about something, no doubt enjoying the awkward tension surrounding the table. When Dennis leaned over to see what was so funny, Aisha merely whispered into the boy's ear, causing him to stifle a laugh of his own.

Victoria didn't have time to question what they were laughing about, her eyes were locked on Lisa who was in the middle of an informative conversation with Carlos.

"A shift?" Lisa asked with a smirk. "So you boys all work together then?" Her eyes flicked towards Dean, no doubt reading the connections.

Carlos didn't catch on, "Oh, no, nothing like that. We all just work part-time. So it's rare that we all have the day off, let alone together."

"Oh, what do you all do then?"

"Oh, a little of this, a little of that," Carlos explained with a shrug. "I work at a hotel in the city. Service industry. Dean works at his father's company and Dennis works at a supermarket." The lie that the PRT drilled into him rolled off the tongue with ease, yet every word only added to Lisa's growing smirk.

"I see," Lisa said. "And you all know Victoria from school?"

Victoria could see Lisa's mind working a mile a minute, piecing together the puzzle. The question wasn't if they were Wards, but which Wards were which? It was only a matter of time before she had her answers. All three Ward boys had no idea that they were sitting in front of a master Thinker.

"Yeah, Dean introduced us," Carlos said, "Been friends ever since."

"Friends," Lisa hummed back, her eyes locking onto Victoria. A smirk was plastered on her face. The blonde knew that Lisa had figured it out, all she could do was wait and pray that Lisa kept it to herself. "Victoria has so many interesting friends. It's a wonder I haven't gotten to meet you sooner."

"Our fault really," Dennis cut in, "Between school and our jobs, we've hardly had any time to ourselves. But now that we've all graduated, we'll have a bit more free time." He looked over to Victoria with a smile.

"Hopefully," Lisa nodded, her smile never breaking.

"Like I said, we were all able to have the morning off today," He turned his smile to Vicky and Taylor. "You should've told us you were free today. We just got done seeing a movie. We would've invited you both. And your friends are always welcome to join, seeing as how we all know each other." He gestured to Brian and Dean who despite the awkward start, were chatting to each other as friends.

"Yeah, we've never even seen Taylor outside of school," Dennis added, looking over to the girl. "We need to make sure we keep in touch, yeah?"

"Sure," Taylor nodded back. Not as enthusiastic as Dennis hoped for but he still smiled.

"Oh, I got it," Dennis perked up. "We still need to celebrate graduation. House party at Dean's next week."

"Wait what?" Dean said back, surprised at the invite. "Why my place?"

"Because you have the best house to party at, duh?" Dennis said while rolling his eyes.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Carlos mused. "Do it after hours when none of us have work."

"Party!" Aisha cheered. "I wanna come! Do you guys have a pool? You look like the type of guy who has a pool."

"A pool?" Brian raised an eyebrow at his sister. "In Brockton Bay? That'd be ridiculous, you'd only be able to use it three times a year."

"Actually, I do have a pool," Dean admitted. "It's uh… heated…" He shied away from the admission.

"Hell yeah!" Aisha cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

"Well it's decided," Dennis huffed proudly. "Party at Dean's next week. You're all invited."

"Wait, hang on a minute," Dean said, looking back to his friends. "We never talked about this before."

"We just did, and it's decided," Dennis smiled back.

"Can't argue with that logic," Carlos shrugged.

Victoria's mind went into overdrive, imagining the worst-case scenario of every social interaction. A party at Dean's would mean every Ward, minus probably Missy, making an appearance. And now the Undersiders were given an open invitation.

She locked eyes with Lisa, silently begging her to talk their way out of it but the blonde only smiled. Victoria's shoulders dropped, defeated, knowing Lisa was going to force her through this.

"We're in," Lisa said, speaking for the group.

"Sweet," Dennis said, giving her a thumbs up.

"We don't want to impose," Brian tried to interject. Giving Vicky a momentary burst of hope.

Dean sighed dramatically and then smiled. "It's fine. They do this all the time. I'll organise something. Text you the details when it's sorted. And yes, everyone at this table is invited."

He directed his words at Brian's little sister but his eyes drifted towards Victoria and her girlfriends. A sweet gesture on any other given day, but today, Victoria could only groan internally at the thought of having her two criminal mastermind girlfriends and their supervillain team at a party with a bunch of Wards.

"Awesome!" Aisha cheered, excited for the upcoming party.

"Awesome…" Victoria sighed, a forced smile on her face.

"Awesome," Dennis said, smiling around the table.

"Awesome…" Dean muttered under his breath, no doubt wondering how he was gonna get his parents to accept this.

"Awesome," Lisa added in smugly, for no other reason than to irritate Victoria.

Alec looked between Aisha's and Dennis's happy smiles, Victoria's and Dean's concerned smiles and Lisa's typical smug smile. "Okay, but seriously? What the fuck is going on?"

------------------------------------------------------
Brockton Bay Dog Shelter – Afternoon

Amy was beginning to wonder if this was what her sister felt like all the time.

She had a smile on her face. The sun was shining. A beautiful summer's breeze was gently flowing in through the window and she felt like she was floating.

Even after her unexpected kiss with Rachel this morning, the girl threw her straight to work like every other employee. Gathering her dogs for today's activities. The pair worked closely together, feeding the dogs, cleaning up after them, tidying up their kennels and inspecting their health.

There was nothing outwardly 'romantic' about anything they were doing, just another day at the shelter. And yet, Amy couldn't stop the smile on her face every time her arm brushed up against Rachel's. Every time their hands touched when passing a tool or item. Every time the taller girl gave her a simple glance or a small smile.

The acknowledgement of the kiss changed her mind from "Do I want this?" to "I think I want this."

Just being here, in the same room as Rachel made her happy. Happy in the same way as she felt whenever Vicky was around, but also better, because there wasn't any underlying guilt for why she felt happy.

She still didn't know what to call this feeling. It wasn't love, it was far too early for that to even be considered. Nor was it basic lust, for she enjoyed the company more than anything else. Granted, she wasn't opposed to Rachel pulling her into another kiss again once the work was over.

Both girls were currently in the middle of training Charlie and Milo. Two pit-fighting dogs who still bore a rivalry from their past lives. Rachel was currently standing between the two, staring the dogs down, daring them to take a single step closer to her. Both dogs growled at each other but stayed rooted to their spots.

Amy approached Charlie first, offering her a treat only when she calmed down. Milo moved to bark again but Amy stood her ground, signalling the dog to stay and mimicking Rachel's glare. Milo sat down, quieting down.

"Good," Rachel whispered, praising both dogs and Amy, for listening.

Charlie sniffed the food and took it slowly. Amy rubbed her hand along Charlie's snout, petting the dog softly. The dog wagged her tail in response, and a smile spread across Amy's face. Rachel moved to do the same for Milo.

"We'll do this every day for an hour, but have them sleep on opposite sides of the kennels," Rachel explained. "Get them used to it,"

"Exposure therapy?" Amy mused. "Not a bad idea."

"That's the plan," Rachel said with a shrug.

Rachel took Milo back to his kennel while Amy waited with Charlie. They would return the dogs separately in the hopes of avoiding more infighting. Amy waited an extra minute before walking Charlie back to his kennel, topping up with water and locking up for the day. Rachel joined up with her back in the hallway.

"That's it for the day," Rachel said, turning to the door. "Good job."

"Was that a compliment?" Amy smirked. "You must really like me or something?"'

"I do," Rachel responded in a very matter-of-fact way. Reaching her hand out to pat Amy on the head.

Amy wasn't sure if she should've been offended by the gesture. Instead, she found herself enjoying the gentle petting and leaned in towards the touch.

Rachel pulled her hand back, her fingers briefly brushed through the strands of hair before falling to her side. "You coming back to work tomorrow?"

"I wasn't planning to," Amy admitted. It was asked so simply, yet Amy knew the real question. "But if you'll be here…"

"I will," Rachel nodded. "Got a few days free before I get busy again. Would like to see you some more."

"I guess it's a date then," Amy said. Then she mused on the idea. "Another date? A date a work? Is that a thing?"

"Today felt kinda like a date," Rachel shrugged. "...I think?"

"It did," Amy agreed. "I didn't know if it was or not. But... it was, wasn't it?"

"It felt like one," Rachel nodded back. "At least, it felt like how I was told a date should be like. The last one felt... weird. Until the end."

"Well, I think that was because... well, I..." Amy wondered how to bring this up now that Rachel had started on the topic. "I kinda didn't realise we were on a date till you kissed me..." Rachel looked at her with a confused look, and Amy elaborated. "To be fair, the only other dates I've ever been on have been on awkward double dates with my sister. So I don't really know what a real date is like... or was like."

Amy thought back on the few dates she had gone on, which were less actual dates and more like her sister dragging her out to spend time with someone else. The awkward energy of meeting a complete stranger while watching Vicky and Dean flirt next to her. So far, Amy had been spared the horror of having to sit through a double date with her sister's new girlfriends. However, the idea of showing up to one with Rachel on her arm was an... interesting thought.

Why though? Because she wanted to introduce Rachel to her sister, or was it another ploy in the vain hope that Vicky would somehow get jealous?

A thing that Amy knew as fact would never happen. She knew exactly how Victoria would feel if she showed up to a double date with Rachel. She would smile and tell her how happy she was that her sister had a girlfriend. She would accept Rachel without a moment's hesitation and be as kind, caring and loving as she always was. Because Victoria loved Amy, just not in the same way Amy loved her.

"What's the matter?

The question brought Amy back to reality. Rachel looked at her curiously, her expression unreadable.

"You okay?" Rachel asked again, inspecting Amy closer.

"I-I..." Amy began. She'd gotten through all of today running on the high of that kiss, but the dogs were now gone and her intrusive thoughts were returning.

Amy was a complicated mess of a human. With conflicting feelings about the, now two, women in her life. Was it healthy to keep this... obsession with Victoria? No, Amy always knew that much. Was it fair to use Rachel as an escape from Victoria? Also no. But was that all she was doing? How could she ever be sure? How could she even begin to explain it without sounding like an insane person who had feelings for their own sister?

Rachel continued to stare at her in concern. Her words from their previous date circled in her mind.

More people just need to cut through the bullshit and say what they mean.

"I don't know what to do," Amy admitted, her intrusive thoughts winning over. "I used to think I knew what I wanted. And that nothing could persuade me otherwise. But then you came along and you kissed me and I didn't know how I felt about it. I mean, I liked it. I do, but I don't know if I want this or if I just want someone... anyone. And I don't think it's fair for you if I'm just with you because you're the first person to show me affection."

Amy didn't know why she said that to her. To the point, she was even a little surprised that she managed to say it all without taking a breath. Rachel was probably, the best, healthiest chance of a relationship Amy was ever going to get and she blew it up on the second date.

Amy was expecting a slap in the face, or for the girl to yell at her.

Instead, she did neither. Rachel just looked at her, a frown on her face. Amy was about to apologise and leave when Rachel opened her mouth.

"Do you like me?" Rachel asked, neither accusation nor hurt in her voice.

"Y-yes," Amy said. "But I-"

"So what's the problem?" Rachel asked. More confused than anything.

"I... have had feelings for someone... else," Amy admitted. There was an old mix of shame and relief as she spoke. This was the first time she had ever dared to say the words aloud. "And while I do like you... a lot. I also... still feel things. And that's not fair, right?"

"So you dating someone else?" Rachel asked.

"No!" Amy answered quickly. "Not like that. I just... have had a crush on someone... for a long time now."

"Why don't you tell them that?" Rachel asked, her head tilted to the side.

"Because... I don't think she feels the same way," Amy admitted. She felt a wave of relief at finally being able to say it. "I know, she doesn't feel the same way. And it will only make things between us... weird."

"So you like a girl, and she doesn't like you," Rachel summarised. "But you like me, and I like you. So again, what's the problem?"

"I..." Amy said, bewildered by the simplicity of Rachel's response.

"You're allowed to like people," Rachel continued, looking her in the eye. "And it doesn't mean you can't like someone else. You're allowed to move on."

"You don't... I mean..." Amy tried to put her words in order. "You're not upset? Or disappointed? Or…"

"No," Rachel shrugged.

"How?" Amy asked. "Maybe I'm not explaining this right," She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I am in love with a girl who doesn't love me back. And I like you, and I don't know if I like you because I like you, or because I want to stop being in love with this other girl."

"Yes," Rachel said, expecting Amy to continue.

Amy simply stared back at Rachel and gestured with her hands. Baffled at Rachel's complete non-reaction.

"I'm... I'm..." Amy tried again. "I'm messed up, Rachel. Like, there's probably something actually wrong with me. And I don't want to hurt you while I figure out my own shit."

"We all have our own shit," Rachel said back. "Doesn't mean we can't like each other."

This woman obviously not understanding what Amy was saying. She was completely unaware of what kind of batshit crazy Amy was. How terrible of an idea it was to date her. Yet here she was, not even phased by any of this.

"Why do you even like me?" Amy asked, no longer fighting Rachel's logic.

"You're good with the dogs," Rachel responded, in a statement that was both completely expected and ridiculous.

"The dogs? That's it?" Amy huffed, unsure how to feel about that. "They only liked me because I smelled like Taylor."

Rachel shook her head, thinking about what to say. "At first, maybe," She agreed, not even fazed by Amy's admission of scent-altering. "But you're patient with them, don't treat them like idiots. I watched you today, and previous days you came here, you're careful and focused when you work. You took time to know each dog and learn what they needed. You're reliable, never once have you missed a day, even though you're a volunteer and have other commitments."

"So... you like me, because I'm a good employee?" Amy asked, her turn to be confused.

Rachel shook her head again. "Everyone working here is here either for the money or because of me," She explained. "They work hard because it's their job, or..." She looked in the direction of the lobby. "Because they're trying to impress me," With a small smile, Rachel looked back down to Amy. "You're here because of the dogs. You came back because you liked them. You're good with dogs. That's why I like you."

"I'm not always a good person," Amy said, not believing what Rachel was telling her. "I'm not always nice. I'm not always pleasant to people."

"Most people are stupid," Rachel shrugged. "But you're smart. You don't give a fuck about what others think about you. You're honest, even when you don't mean to be."

I've done things," Amy went on, thinking about how she used her powers in a pathetic attempt to become Taylor and all the worse ways she could've used them. "Thought about doing worse things. I could be helping people right now, but I'm here instead, doing what I like rather than what's right."

"Nothing wrong with taking care of yourself first," Rachel said.

"You know Cassie is crazy about you, right?" Amy asked, pointing her thumb in the direction of the lobby. "She's probably everything you said about me, I'm sure she'd jump at the chance to be with you." Amy wasn't sure why she was telling her this. Why she kept trying to dig herself into this hole of loneliness, or even if Rachel was aware of Cassie's feelings.

"Cassie is nice... but, strange. Also too young," Rachel admitted. "I get a weird vibe from her, but tries her best. Honestly, she reminds me of Angelica when she was a pup. Excitable and always gnawing at my heels. Cassie is..." Rachel thought about her words. "Family. Other family. She's more like a little sister to me, it would feel strange to do things with her."

Amy choked out an awkward laugh. "Yeah... that would be... weird."

"Also you're cute," Rachel stated, causing Amy to blush. "So there, that's why I like you. And you like me?"

"Y-yeah," Amy admitted again for her. "I like you."

"So what's the problem?" Rachel asked one more time.

"I guess..." Amy began, taking a step towards Rachel. "There is... no problem?"

Rachel leaned down and kissed Amy, pulling her into her arms and holding her tightly. "Good," Rachel said once they broke away.

She turned to walk off, wrapping a hand behind Amy and gently pushing her along. Amy allowed herself to be guided, but only for a moment before finding her own footing and walking alongside her.

"So, I guess this makes things... official? Amy asked. "Will all our dates be work dates or are we doing normal date things too?"

"Dunno," Rachel shrugged. "Don't really know how this all works. Not many places in the city allow me though. But we'll figure it out."

Amy assumed that Rachel and her dogs were a packaged deal. That threw out any and all plans that couldn't incorporate her animals. Amy wasn't sure how much of the city was left for someone like Rachel, but at this moment, Amy didn't care. They were walking together, and it was nice.

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[SparrowOnCherryBlossom]

Hmmm….Amy bottom and Rachel top is the vibe I'm getting.

thanks for the chapter

 

[Bladereader]

The chapter got a lot more Amy/Rachel focused than when I started writing

Click to shrink...

Oh no! However will I survive!?

Never seen the pairing before, but I really like it. You know, unlike Cassie. She is currently malding.

 

[space turtle]

At least Amy will know exactly how Cassie feels as a younger sister figure who won't have reciprocated feelings from an older sister.

Now she just needs to set her up with a superhero somewhere to complete the circle.

Or raise the possibility of power assisted cosmetic surgery to make things even weirder with a Vicky adjacent addition to the bays second hero/villain throuple.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: I'm back. Sorry about the wait. I was on holiday. This chapter was meant to be only half of one but the opening scene got so long. Hope you enjoy!

---

Brockton Bay Streets – Night

Lisa watched the city speed by. The car's headlights cut through the night, and the rain pattered against the window. The back seat of the car was large. Not like a limo, but still comfortable. Lisa had plenty of legroom to stretch out and kick her feet up. Enjoying the view from her tinted, bulletproof glass.

One of the perks of running the second-largest gang in the city was that she got to travel in style. No longer did Lisa have to drive the shittiest car in all of Brockton Bay out of fear of her vehicle either being stolen or traced back to her. Now she had her own personal driver, jet-black windows to obscure the people inside and an interior that screamed luxury.

She couldn't drive like this all the time, people would still question how a teenage girl could afford something like this, but Lisa felt no shame about indulging every so often. Especially when it was for business.

Pressing a button on her door, a small mini-fridge popped open between the two seats. A bottle of champagne and two glasses waited for her, Lisa didn't even know what brand it was, but it was probably expensive.

Given as a gift. Expensive. Imported. Meant to symbolise something personal. Inside joke? Unknown. Two glasses, expected drinking partner? No, also symbolic. Held in car. Planned to drink in car. Watch from car. Victory cheers. Bottle held for personal victory against someone?

Lisa dismissed her power. She could spend the entire ride trying to analyse the bottle, and it'd give her nothing worthwhile. It belonged to Coil, and Coil was dead. Whatever victory he was saving this bottle for would never come.

"Personal victory against someone, ay?" Lisa mused to herself. Grabbing for a glass and uncorking the bottle. "Probably against me, asshole."

She poured a glass and set the bottle down, leaving the other glass empty. She took a sip. Lisa didn't really drink, she didn't at all, to be honest. But it was 'symbolic'.

Drinking Coil's champagne. Second best thing compared to pissing on his grave.

"Having fun there?"

The voice was stern and disproving. Much like a Dad. Better than a Dad, since Lisa's had been a real shithead. But a Dad, nonetheless.

"Yup, I'm enjoying my victory." Lisa smiled, looking to her side. Brian, or more accurately, Grue, sat beside her. Watching her smugly sip on her glass.

The drink was a disgusting sour, carbonated grape juice. Lisa could not for the life of her understand how people drank it on the regular. But in the interest of her 'victory' she managed another sip.

Can see your disgust for the drink. Smiling behind mask. Knows Lisa Wilbourn doesn't enjoy alcoholic beverages. Considering watching Lisa Wilbourn finish entire glass. Willing to let Lisa Wilbourn save face to avoid argument.

Brian sighed softly and removed his helmet. Motioning for Lisa to give him the glass of champagne.

"To our victory," Lisa said, passing him the glass. "And the one still to come."

Brian smiled, graciously accepting her woeful excuse and cheered with the glass before downing it all in one gulp.

"Oh shit," Brian said, looking down into his now-empty glass. "This is the good stuff." He turned back to the mini fridge and inspected the bottle itself.

"Course you're a wine snob," Lisa huffed with a laugh. "Of all the hobbies..."

"I'm not a wine snob," Brian mumbled, reading over the bottle. "I just know what tastes good and what doesn't." Lisa rolled her eyes even harder. "I wonder who TC and EP are?"

"Huh?"

Brian pulled out a small card that had been attached to the bottom of the bottle, waving it around in his finger.

T.C.
For pulling me out of the frying pan.
-E.P.

Lisa shrugged. It wasn't her problem anymore. She turned back over to the window, watching the city fly by.

"So?…" Brian said after a short while.

"So?" Lisa responded, turning back to the boy.

He poured himself another glass, this time sipping it more gently.

"That was a little weird... the other day," He finally said. "Running into Victoria's friends at Fuglys."

"You're still thinking about that?" Lisa laughed. "It's been three days."

"It's just..." He chuckled to himself. "What are the chances? I go off on my own free time and end up making friends with..." He sighed. "And it's not like we don't talk. We usually get breakfast after our workouts. I know he comes from money, I know his dad is some fancy business schmuck. But he didn't once mention that he was dating Victoria freaking Dallon? Isn't that a little weird?"

"He just got dumped a few weeks back," Lisa shrugged. "He probably didn't want to think about Vicky."

"Yeah... maybe," Brian mumbled, not believing it. "Still. I can't help feeling like he's hiding something now." He went quiet in thought. "Wasn't Glory Girl rumoured to be dating Gallant?... So wouldn't that mean-"

"I'm just gonna stop you right there," Lisa said, holding her hand up.

"Why?..." Brian asked, confused.

"Because it doesn't matter," Lisa explained. "And if you really want to know. Just ask your friend. Easy."

"It doesn't matter if I'm spending my free time with a Ward?" Brian asked sarcastically, Lisa held her smile. "Right... Forgot who I was talking to for a second."

Lisa giggled, shaking her head. Brian swirled the Champagne in his glass and took another sip.

"Forget about it for now," Lisa said with a hand wave. "Ask him at the party if it's still bothering you that much. And try not to be a bitch about it when- uh, if, it turns out to be true."

"Bitch..." Brian echoed, pondering to himself as he finished the last of his glass. "Speaking of... I think Alec might be onto something about Bitch."

"Hmm?" Lisa asked, confused about the change of topic.

"Bitch, she's been different lately," Brian explained. "You haven't noticed?"

"We don't really talk much," Lisa shrugged. "Outside of meetings and breakfast at least. Why? What's up with her?"

"I caught her humming..." Brian said. Lisa blinked back in shock. "She was just walking down the hallway, off to do who knows what. And she was humming... an actual tune."

"Did she notice you?" Lisa asked.

"That's the weirdest part," Brian said, a sly smile building on his face. "She did. I thought I'd stumbled into her embarrassing secret or something but we locked eyes on each other and she didn't stop."

"Okay, that's weird..." Lisa agreed, making a mental note to check in on Rachel when she had the time.

"It's almost like she's... happy, about something. But I'm afraid to ask what." Brian wondered aloud.

"Probably excited to take the fight to the Empire," Lisa speculated. "They do run all the dog fighting rings in town, so she has a bone to pick," Brian nodded in agreement. "At least that's one less thing to worry about when the fighting starts. You'll be able to lead an amped-up Bitch straight into Kaiser's face."

Brian sighed and looked away.

"Yeah…"

Lisa's brows knitted together.

"Something wrong?"

"Can I ask something?" Brian said, corking the bottle and placing it back into the mini-fridge.

"I think you just did," Lisa teased. Brian rolled his eyes, and Lisa chuckled to herself. "But yes, go ahead."

"Why am I here?"

Lisa tilted her head at the question. She turned to face him, he looked a little unsure of himself.

"Because I needed support," Lisa said simply. Brian raised an eyebrow. "I can't take Skitter or Deimos because they both have parental assigned bedtimes, plus they'd both just start a fight with Faultline the minute she insults me."

"Yeah," Brian nodded. "I could see Skitter doing that."

"That's why you're here," Lisa explained. "To make sure I act... respectful. Also, you're the best diplomat we have after me."

"Thanks... I think?" Brian chuckled. "But I was actually meaning in general."

"What? Like the Undersiders in general?" Lisa asked, confused and a little worried.

"No... Well kinda. But not like that." Brian said, waving off the notion. "More like why am I still acting as the leader when everyone knows it's your show?"

"What? No? What?" Lisa said in the most forced, shocked voice she could do. "You've always been our leader, Grue. No one could ever-"

"Lisa, please. This entire team was put together by Coil and puppeted by you." Brian said, gesturing around the air. "That's fine. I made my peace with that ages ago. What I don't get, is why even now that he's gone, you still prefer to act over my shoulder?"

"You know I never wanted to be in charge," Lisa said. "I make plans, I organise things. Information in and out. I don't lead, Grue. We stick to our specialities."

"That made sense when we were a team of thieves," Brian explained. "But we've gone way beyond that. We run multiple operations, manage a small, private army and are prepping for a war with the strongest gangs in the city. It makes no sense for you to keep playing second fiddle when you're the only one that actually knows what the fuck we're doing."

"I-," Lisa stammered.

"Sorry..." Brian sighed. "I just... I'm glad that you're free from Coil. I just never planned to be in this position. I wanted to run a small team. Make some quick cash, and support my family. And while I agree with our new mission, I'm not... I've never been this ambitious. T, I'll support you. But this is your show. And it's left me wondering, why am I here, and not sitting in the back chairs with the others?"

Lisa stopped to think. She hadn't realised that it had affected him so much. She'd picked up that Brian was more stressed and in over his head, but she always assumed that he'd pull through like every other time.

"Okay, maybe you're right," Lisa admitted. "The mercs, the territory. The rapid expansion and impending gang war. That's all my show, my ambition. But the Undersiders. That's your team. Always have been."

"Please..." Brian said, leaning forward and looking her in the eye. "You could run the Undersiders with your eyes closed."

"They wouldn't respect me," Lisa waved him away. "Not like they respect you."

"They don't respect me at all," Brian grumbled. "They all know I'm only as effective as I am because I have you whispering in my ear."

"It's more than that."

"And we both know Skitter and Deimos are here for you and not me," Brian added.

"Okay, Deimos, yes," Lisa conceded. "That's obvious. But give yourself some credit Grue. You're not just a figurehead leader. You're like... the team Dad."

Brian almost choked on his spit. "The... what?"

"And why are any of us here?" Lisa sighed with a playful smile. "We all have our reasons for being on the team. Some of them are pretty wild."

"What do you mean?"

"Well. Bitch and Regent already view the team as their family," Lisa explained. "Regent probably wouldn't use the word family exactly, as his negative connotations to it. But emotionally, it's the same. Bitch for sure though. Views you as head honcho to her found family. Ergo, team Dad."

"That's just... weird," Brian mumbled.

Fighting smile on face. Signs of a blush. Re-evaluating connection to friends.

"Parian was pretty upfront with what she wants. The Empire out of her city. And yes, Deimos is here for me and Skitter. That's pretty obvious." Lisa chuckled. "But she isn't 'just' here for that. Deimos, under all that worry and guilt, is a teenage brute who's excited to punch Nazis in the face without restraint. You watch, when everything finally pops off, you won't see someone who's begrudgingly dragged along by her girlfriends. You'll see an Undersider, and it'll be glorious."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Then we have Skitter," Lisa went on, ignoring Brian's scepticism. "She loves me, yes. I seduced her to the dark side, yes." Lisa sighed dramatically. "But at the end of the day, all that girl wanted was some friends. Plural. And no amount of romantic favouritism is going to get in the way of how fiercely loyal that girl can be. Also, you think I have ambition with this whole mercenary company?" Lisa chuckled darkly. "You have no idea what's going through Skitter's mind these days…"

"What do you mean?-"

"And then we have Imp," Lisa continued. "She's easy. She's the most open one of them all. Sure, she loves chaos and mischief. But she's a child, they're all like that. No, Imp is here for only one reason. Attention. She wants to be closer to her beloved big Brother."

"Okay, now I know you're making shit up,"

"Trust me," Lisa said through her smirk. "She likes to talk shit, calls you boring and whatever. But deep down, that girl thinks you're the coolest brother in the world and wants to be just like you." Brian tried to wave it off, but Lisa could see he was flattered. "Just throw her a compliment or two after a job and watch as she tries to hide how happy she is. It'll be cute."

"Alright, maybe," Brian mumbled. "I keep reminding myself not to be so tough on her..."

"And of course, you."

"Me?"

"You like being independent," Lisa explained. "You took a few jobs here and there back when you first got your powers. But you hate working under people. Too many egos. You could've easily signed up for the Wards and had your sister taken care of. But you'd have no control over how. And thus, The Undersiders. A ragtag group of misfits and assholes. Who, despite their best efforts, are your friends. It's why you lead the team in the first place. It's why you're so gung ho on being an 'independent' mercenary company and it's why you're feeling so conflicted about leading now..." Lisa gave a small, guilty smile. "Sorry about that, guess I did push you into a corner with this whole thing..."

Brian stared at her for a long moment. Letting out a slow whistle as he shook his head. "Can't really fault a social thinker for showing off with words, can I?" He chuckled to himself before adding. "It's fine... I never really was in control of anything. But I appreciate the honesty." Brian turned back to look outside his window, the rain wasn't letting up. "Still... You're missing one person."

"Oh yeah? Who?"

Brian looked back over to Lisa. "You," he said with a smile. "You're free from your Coil obligations, yet you obviously don't want to be leader. So, why are you here, T? What do you want?"

The car parked up out of the front of its destination. Grue didn't wait for Lisa's answer, opting to place his helmet back on before their driver opened Lisa's side of the door.

"Your destination, Tattletale," The driver said, holding an Umbrella for the girl.

Lisa looked out the door, towards the flashing lights of the nightclub that stood before her. The Palanquin.

"I want to get this over with," Lisa answered.

-----------------------------------------

The Palanquin – Night

Security didn't bat an eye as Tattletale and Grue approached the nightclub. Wordlessly, the pair sidestepped the long line of patrons waiting to get in. They were expected, and while Lisa didn't expect them to roll out the red carpet for them, there was a level of respect afforded to her.

Inside the club was much the same. The dance floor was packed, the music was loud and the smell of booze and sweat hung in the air. No one so much as gave the supervillain duo more than a passing glance as they made their way through the crowd and up towards the VIP lounge.

Faultline and a handful of her crew were waiting for them, spread out across the booth. All eyes were on the two Undersiders.

"Nice of you to show," Faultline greeted. Her tone was passive, but not overly friendly. "Was beginning to think you'd changed your mind."

She spoke to Grue, offering a polite nod towards the man. While she wore her wielding mask, Lisa could tell the woman's polite smile dropped the second she made eye contact with Tattletale.

"We're here now," Tattletale said with a smirk.

"Apparently so," Faultline sighed. "Well, Grue gave me the sales pitch last time he was here, and I very much doubt you'll add anything of interest." She clapped her hand and sat up straighter at her booth, looking back to Grue. "I'm assuming you'd like to get down to business, right?"

Tattletale opened her mouth to say something, but Grue cut her off.

"That's correct," He said, ignoring Tattletale's sideways glance. "We plan to strike the Empire within the next few weeks. We can pay for the sign-on fee today, ensure that you'll remain loyal to the Undersiders for the duration of the conflict."

"Oh please," Tattletale huffed. "They wouldn't do business with the Empire regardless of what they were paid. It's written all over their fa-"

Grue put a hand to Tattletale's mouth and continued.

"We already have three opening operations planned out," Grue explained, ignoring Tattletale's annoyed muffles. "I've prepared the information folios ahead of time, so you can peruse it at your leisure. More details will be available once you've signed on, and obviously, don't share these around."

Grue looked over to the other members of Faultline's crew, trying to judge how seriously they took the meeting. He let out a small huff of appreciation when he saw one of the younger members, Newter, make a show of zipping his mouth shut.

"My team is professional, Grue," Faultline assured, somewhat offended by the accusation. "And you're right, we never would accept jobs from the likes of the Empire. But we're also content to sit back and what you both kill each other. Unless you're paying us."

Grue let his hand drop from Tattletale's mouth. "All we need is your confirmation, and the Undersiders are willing to pay your requested fees."

Faultline nodded and briefly considered the offer. It was all just showmanship, Tattletale knew that Faultline would agree the second they showed up at the club. Case 53's were treated no better by the Empire than any other minority group and they would've jumped at any chance to rid them from the city. But Faultline was a mercenary and never did any job for free.

Grue handed over the folio, which Faultline quickly skimmed through.

"I've got to admit," Faultline said, handing the folio around the table. "When I heard that the Undersiders took over from Coil, I assumed the whole organization would've collapsed overnight. Declaring war on the Empire has always been a pipe dream for everyone in the city, even the Protectorate wouldn't touch them."

"And now?" Grue asked.

Faultline shrugged. "Ehh, better to see this city go down swinging rather than just let them walk over us."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Grue grumbled.

Faultline collected the folio and handed it back to Grue. "The first plan looks solid, the other two might need some adjusting. But it's doable."

"And of course, we'll pay your fee for every future operation required if needed," Grue said, taking his folio back. "I assume that's confirmation. Shall we transfer payment to the usual account?"

He threw his hand out to shake for the deal but Faultline simply chuckled.

"Not so fast..." She said, folding her arms. "There was still one more term we required before agreeing."

Faultline glanced past Grue and finally acknowledged Tattletale's presence in the room. The rest of her crew watched on with interest, more so than the original deal which was just a formality at this point, they were here to see this.

"Well?" Faultline grumbled. "I'm waiting?"

As per the terms of the deal, the Undersiders would be paying Faultline a premium on top of her usual fees, along with one special term.

Tattletale was forced to apologise directly to Faultline, during open mic night at The Palanquin. They had written an actual script of Tattletale to follow, that spoke about how Faultline was a 'smart, beautiful, talented and overall great person' that Tattletale had wronged. It was meant to humiliate Tattletale, a petty display of power over the girl.

One that Lisa had no intention of following.

"Ah," Tattletale smiled, her own hands clapped together. "Yes. Your terms,"

She fished into her own carried folio and pulled out the crumpled note that was to be her script. With an exaggerated flare, she cleared her throat and looked like she was about to read. Faultline's entire crew all leaned forward out of sheer disbelief, which told Lisa exactly what she already suspected.

"Your terms are stupid," Tattletale said. With the same cheerful smile, she scrunched up the note in her hand and let it drop to the floor. "This club doesn't even have an open mic night. Not to mention, the handwriting and tone of this note implies someone childish came up with this apology script. I'm guessing Newter."

"Guilty," Newter chuckled. Raising his hand with a bashful chuckle.

"True," Faultline said with a straight-faced professionalism that spat in the face of Tattletale's smile. "But my terms remain the same. I want a formal apology, from you, in front of my team."

Tattletale's smile dropped for a short moment. Letting out a big sigh before rolling her head.

"I thought this might happen..." She said, smile returning to her face. "So how about we skip the apology and I just give you this instead?"

It was Tattletale's turn to throw down a manila folder in front of Faultline. Grue kept his standard poker face stance, but Lisa could tell he was filled with worry over his deal blowing up because of Lisa's pride. Faultline opened the folder and picked up the first sheet of paper.

"And what's this?" She asked, disappointment evident in her voice.

"Did you know Coil had a body-double?" Tattletale asked rhetorically. "A parahuman with minor Thinker abilities and accelerated healing."

"And?" Faultline asked, still reading through the file.

"You're right, not that important. I almost dismissed it myself if not for needing to run some background checks into him." Tattletale continued. "Turns out though, Coil somehow bought these specific powers from someone. And was extra concerned about possible mutations..." Her eyes flicked over to some of the more visually unique members of Faultline's crew.

Faultline stopped reading, looking up from the file to meet Tattletale's gaze. Tattletale smiled back, knowing full well that Faultline was chomping at the bait.

"That right there is page one of a seven-page email chain," Tattletale explained. "It's encoded and was a bitch to decipher, but it's a pretty interesting read. Naturally, I'm too busy managing our new mercenary company to dig into this rabbit hole. But who knows, maybe you'll find something worthwhile in there. Names, receipts. Contact details and locations?"

Tattletale was looking extra smug as Faultline's body language started to shift into one of fervent interest.

"You still owe me an apology," Faultline grumbled, not giving the folder back.

"You can put it on my tab," Tattletale brushed some hair out of her face and then extended a hand to shake. "So, do we have a deal?"

Faultline was still reading through the single page in her hand as she extended her spare arm out. Her crew all sighed in unison as Faultline and Tattletale shook on the deal. Every member of the crew passed money around each other.

Passing cash? Betting? Betting on odds if Tattletale would apologise. Incorrect, money going to a single pot. Not betting, pooling. Crew pays out anytime Tattletale refuses to apologise. Why? Inside joke? Saving for gift. Plan to give gift to Faultline on day Tattletale apologises. Tattletale has refused apology several times. Prediction, expensive gift.

Tattletale chuckled and looked back to Grue. Grue let out his own sigh, one of relief, as he transferred the payment through his phone.

"Welcome to the Undersiders," Tattletale said teasingly. "Expect an email from me later tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah," Faultline mumbled. "Now get the hell out, I don't see you until it's time. In fact, I don't want to see you at all. Grue will be our point of contact."

Tattletale turned and walked out with her head held high, Grue was quick to follow behind her.

"That went well," Tattletale said with a smile.

"You can never just tell me what your plan is, can you?" Grue sighed.

"If I tell you, It ruins the surprise."

"Because you know how much I love surprises"

Their car was still waiting for them as they exited the club. In and out, just as Tattletale wanted it.

"Don't worry, that's the last one," Tattletale chuckled as they hopped back up into the vehicle. "All objectives are clear. It's going to be smooth sailing right up until we're ready to strike."

Grue sighed again, this time a little more playfully. "Now why did you have to go and say that?"

 

[space turtle]

Murphy thinks it's smells like bitch in here!!!

"No not you, you just smell of puppies"

Can't wait to see it all fall sideways.
Maybe Hat lady will make a point out of it, to not to fuck with her interests.

 

[Dradel]

Finally the Undersiders take over the city we all deserve can't believe I had to find it in the b plot of a Smugpunchbuggy fic when everyone keep talking big about ''Warlord Skitter".